The new owners of Mid-Wilshire’s Firestone building have big plans for the space that include keeping the building’s vintage charm on the outside—and shaking up the inside. The Larchmont Buzz says plans call for the building just south of Wilshire and La Brea to be reused as a dining and drinking destination for locals with a microbrewery, three eateries, and retail space.
The building at Eighth and La Brea is a city historic-cultural monument and former David Lynch movie set.
The Buzz published a rendering presented to the Sycamore Square Neighborhood Association that shows the building would retain “key historic structural elements,” such as its metal window frames and its rooftop Firestone signs.
New additions would include outdoor dining patios, a coffee kiosk, and a lineup of “neighborhood serving” food offerings. The project would not have on-site parking, though a rep for the project told neighbors they have leased 20 spots from the church across the street and are seeking out more parking.
Feedback has been positive, says the Buzz, but the neighborhood association’s board ultimately voted to oppose it over concerns about “parking, the 2 a.m. closing time on weekends, security, discouraging vagrants from hanging out in the patio areas, possible aromas from the brewing operation, parking for early morning customers at a proposed La Brea-side coffee kiosk, and more,” says the Buzz.
The board members did say they would be willing to reconsider, provided that developers address these concerns.
The 1937 streamline moderne Firestone building has been slated for an update since the tire company vacated the space in 2015. Current owners Conroy Commercial took over later that same year.
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