Grand Central Market sold, new owner plans a facelift

Grand Central Market has a new owner, a Beverly Hills real estate investor who plans to inject “significant capital to enhance” the lively 100-year-old food hall.

Langdon Street Capital announced Wednesday morning that it had acquired the Downtown Los Angeles property, a destination for locals and tourists, for an undisclosed price. The purchase also includes the neighboring Million Dollar Theatre, Grand Central Square Apartments, and Grand Central Parking Structure.

The announcement says Langdon will spend a “significant” amount of money upgrading the market, but doesn’t provide any details. A spokesperson has not returned a message seeking more information. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the company’s president Adam Daneshgar says they won’t make many changes.

“We just want to safeguard this place ... We are not looking to go in and change or overhaul anything,” he tells the LA Times.

In a statement, he says: “Our goal is to continue the incredible improvements the Market has implemented over the past half-decade and the legacy that precedes us.”

The previous owner, the Yellin Co., ushered in a new era for the market, once a melting pot of minority-owned businesses that peddled dishes from their native countries, Mexico, Germany, Japan, Italy.

Wonho Frank Lee

The company’s founder, the late Ira Yellin, helmed a restoration in 1985. Then, in more recent years, his widow, Adele Yellin, replaced many of the vendors with bougier, upscale restaurateurs to bring the market out of a Great Recession “funk.”

Langdon will be the fourth-ever owner of the market, which opened in 1917. It has been in continuous operation since then.

Daneshgar tells the Times that some of the changes he’s planning include a new paint job, “cleaning the dusty skylights,” and possibly adding a couple of new stalls.

“We are grateful and excited to become only the fourth owner in the unparalleled history of Grand Central Market,” he says in a statement. “The authenticity of the Market, its connection to the roots of our community, and its spirit of inclusiveness are a major part of what makes this Los Angeles institution irreplaceable.”