The roller derby brigade known as the Derby Dolls once held court in a warehouse on Temple Street in Historic Filipinotown. The warehouse is being demolished right now, as a handful of Instagram images show. Permits for demolition were issued earlier this month.
Two years ago, when the Derby Dolls announced its move from the HiFi location to a new spot, which wound up being in El Sereno, it said it was motivated to do so because its landlord was talking about razing the Factory to put up condos.
According to a 2007 plan filed with the city, the idea was to put 46 affordable units along with 205 market-rate units and nearly 22,000 square feet of ground-floor retail on a property that includes the footprint of the Doll Factory and takes up almost the entire block bordered by Westlake Avenue and Court, Bonnie Brae, and Temple streets. (One single-family residence on the corner of Westlake and Court Street will not be part of the development.)
More recent plans from the second half of last year indicate that the same developer is reviving that large-scale mixed-use plan, but hopes to build in two phases.
Curbed has reached out to the property owner, Axiom Real Estate Investments, for further comment. Axiom’s website features renderings for the project, referred to as Temple West, but does not have a timeline for completion.