An Orange County developer of boutique hotels has won preliminary approval to convert the century-old Palmer Building on the Hollywood Walk of Fame into a 57-room hotel with a rooftop restaurant.
Artist Guild Hotels, based in San Clemente, has gotten a green light from the Los Angeles Planning Commission to redevelop the four-story historic office building at 6360-6366 Hollywood Blvd., Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
The Renaissance Revival building was built in 1921 by Hollywood businessman and physician Dr. Edwin O. Palmer to house the Hollywood Citizen, which had just gone from a weekly to a daily newspaper.
Current plans call for 57 guest rooms with 8,885 square feet of restaurant and lounge space.
AGi architects, with offices in Spain and Kuwait, is designing the project.
The boutique hotel would retain the appearance of the nearly century-old building in accordance with federal rules for the rehabilitation of historic structures, while also accommodating a swimming deck and rooftop restaurant.
The approved plan is significantly pared back from Artist Guild’s original vision for the Palmer, which was announced in 2020. The company had initially sought to add six new floors to create a 10-story hotel with 87 rooms.
The proposed overhaul came amid the rapid pace of hotel development in Los Angeles, and as city officials push ahead with plans to improve Hollywood Boulevard’s famous Walk of Fame, including widening sidewalks and building a bike lane.
Foot traffic on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — a key measure of the neighborhood’s tourism sector and economic vibrancy — approached pre-pandemic levels at the end of last year, with hotel fortunes following the same path.
The Artist Guild project is one of several new hotels in the works along the tourist mecca, including the Whiskey Hotel, now taking shape at Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox Avenue, and a nine-story hotel planned at La Brea Avenue, according to Urbanize.
Local developer Relevant Group has also built a series of boutique hotels along Selma Avenue, about a block southwest of the Palmer Building.
[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew
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