Amid hotel boom, Jamison seeks to repurpose a DTLA office building

The 149-key hotel would rise at 124 E. Olympic Boulevard

Jamie Lee with the building site (Credit: Google Maps, LinkedIn)
Jamie Lee with the building site (Credit: Google Maps, LinkedIn)

Jamison is not slowing down.

The big developer has just filed plans to repurpose a 70,000-square-foot office building into a hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, a day after submitting a proposal to build a 193-unit mixed-use complex in Koreatown.

Jamison, a family-run firm, is hoping to convert the existing six-story commercial building at 124 East Olympic Boulevard in Downtown into a 149-key hotel. The company is seeking to seize on the strong demand for hotel accomodations that L.A. has been experiencing in recent years.

The new structure would rise seven stories and feature a restaurant on the ground floor, as well as rooftop dining. Among the requested entitlements are the on-site sale of alcohol, and dancing, perhaps for a nightclub.

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The current property owner is listed as Mart South LP, which holds the same mailing address as Jamison, according to deed records. The site is across the street from one of L.A.’s biggest apparel showrooms, the California Market Center at 110 East 9th Street. Jamison sold its controlling stake in that 1.8 million-square-foot structure to Brookfield Office Properties for $440 million in June.

Jamison declined to comment.

L.A. is in the midst of a strong run for the hotel industry.

Last year, from January to October, 4,700 new rooms had opened and another 5,209 were under construction. Hotel investment also jumped to $1 billion in the first half of 2017, doubling the amount from the year before. In Downtown, San Gabriel-based developer Tauan Chen was recently granted a zone change for a 125-key hotel in the Pico-Union neighborhood. Also, national real estate investor Lightstone is seeking to build 1,000 rooms between Figueroa and Flower streets.