San Pedro could get a hotel next to historic Warner Grand theater

San Pedro’s historic movie palace, the Warner Grand Theatre, could be getting a fancy neighbor. Plans presented at an October 17 joint meeting of the Northwest, Central, and Coastal San Pedro neighborhood councils show the seven-story boutique hotel that would rise on a now-vacant lot at the corner of Sixth Street and Pacific Avenue.

The hotel’s designs, by Axis GFA Architecture + Design, attempt to incorporate elements of the Warner Grand and surrounding buildings, such as zig zag banding and chevron patterns. The hotel will also have a neon blade sign, as the theater does.

In addition to 80 guest rooms, the structure would also hold a 2,000-square-foot restaurant and a rooftop deck and bar.

Property records show the parcel is owned by an LLC connected to West Hollywood-based development firm AJ Khair, which was a developer on the recently opened La Peer Hotel on Melrose.

The firm also has a hotel in the works on Wilcox north of Franklin Avenue in Hollywood.

AJ Khair declined to answer questions about the project, and a timeline for the build-out of the hotel has not been announced.

The Warner Grand is a landmark movie theater designed by B. Marcus Priteca in what the Los Angeles Conservancy calls a “Classical Moderne” style. The interiors are Art Deco all the way, with Deco tile and lighting fixtures.

Like many old movie houses, it went through a series of names and programming changes in the decades since its 1931 opening. It was purchased by the Department of Cultural Affairs in 1996, and is now used as a venue for a variety of events.

The lot where the hotel will rise has been vacant since 2015, when a fire destroyed a commercial building on the site, Urbanize LA notes.