Yet another grand old building in the area around MacArthur Park is getting its gentrification makeover: the Beaux Arts Wilshire Royale at Wilshire and Rampart has sold to real estate investors MWest Holdings, who are planning a renovation that'll include the relighting of its rooftop neon sign, according to the LA Times. The late-1920s apartment building will join the 1925 Park Plaza Hotel and the 1926 Hayworth Theatre, along with tons of new developments, to bring a richer crowd into the low-income, Latino Westlake/MacArthur Park area, which is conveniently situated between hot Downtown and hotter Koreatown. Rents at the Wilshire Royale today range from $905 for a studio to $2,185 for a three-bedroom apartment.
MWest paid $32.5 million for the 12-story Wilshire Royale, which was built during Prohibition as the Arcady, a residential hotel during, by a leader of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Since then, it's operated as senior housing, a Howard Johnson's, and regular old apartments. The real estate investors plan to spend about $2 million upgrading the building's 193 apartments, lobby, and other common areas. Judging by photos on the building's website, at least parts of some of the units have retained their classic details over the years.
· Historic Wilshire Royale apartments to be renovated by new owner [LAT]
· Mapping the Huge Wave of Gentrification About to Hit Westlake [Curbed LA]
· EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood Roosevelt Owners Will Redevelop Westlake's Neglected Park Plaza Hotel [Curbed LA]