An iconic presence in Chinatown’s Central Plaza since 1939, 949 Sun Mun Way has seen quite a bit in its 77 years. In its original incarnation, it housed several restaurants, most notably the Rice Bowl, site of the only Asian cabaret in town. In the '70s and '80s, as Madame Wong’s, it found renown as one of the West Coast’s premiere venues for punk rock and new wave. After its rock club heyday ended in the mid-80s, the building sank into slow decline—for decades it was used mainly as a storage space for furniture.
Then, in 2003, it was purchased by architect Amy Finn Bernier and her husband, Dan, who converted the storied building into a mixed use property, with two live/work loft spaces on the upper level, and three retail/gallery spaces on the ground floor. The couple’s restoration efforts netted them a preservation award from the Los Angeles Conservancy as well as a feature in Dwell magazine in 2007. The following year, the building went on the market with a bubble-icious list price of $3.285 million, and there it languished until August 2010, when it traded hands for $1.565 million.
Six years later, 949 Sun Mun Way is up for sale once again. According to the ad (which doesn’t appear to be running anywhere aside from Craigslist as of this writing), the 8,000-square-foot structure was renovated in 2011 and has had "recent upgrades throughout." Asking price is $4.5 million.
For Sale in Los Angeles Archive [Curbed LA]
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