Checking in on the Chinatown’s Capitol Milling project

The Capitol Milling Company buildings in Chinatown date to the 1880s and have mostly sat vacant for years (save for the occasional film shoot). But work is underway now to transform the former mill into a microbrewery, restaurants, and offices.

The developer couldn’t be reached for a projected opening date, but the architect says structural work still needs to be done on the complex, which contains five buildings that are over a century old.

Preliminary renderings seen last month on Urbanize LA show the space flaunting exposed brick, vaulted ceilings, and walls of glass. Workshop Design Collective principal Dwight Bond tells Curbed that it’s likely the building’s final interior designs will be different as the initial work progresses.

The Capitol Milling Company was founded in 1831 and was still grinding flour at this location until 1998, the Los Angeles Times wrote in 2000. Train riders might be familiar with the buildings, as they’re clearly visible from the Chinatown Gold Line station.

According to the Times, the mill was the longest running family-operated business in the city of Los Angeles before it was sold to agribusiness giant Conagra. In 1999, Conagra sold to the property to the Riboli family, which founded and owns San Antonio Winery.

The Riboli family is running a development firm called S&R Partners, according to the Downtown News. That company is teaming up with Lincoln Properties for the new Capitol Milling Company adaptive reuse project.

• 19th Century Mill Gets New Lease on Life for the 21st [LAT]
• Development Watch [Downtown News]
• Adaptive Reuse Underway at Chinatown's Capitol Milling Building [ULA]