Giannini Place, a 1920s landmark in downtown L.A., will be converted to a hotel

Ornate features include a gilded ceiling in the lobby of the former Bank of Italy building at Giannini Place in downtown Los Angeles.

A pigeon perches above one of the gargoyles on the vacant Giannini Place building, once home to the Bank of Italy.

Alex Baum-Stein of developer Sydell Group walks up a stairwell at Giannini Place in downtown Los Angeles. The building, at Olive and 7th streets, will be redeveloped as a hotel.

An ornate ceiling adorns the main entrance to the Giannini Place building at Olive and 7th streets in downtown Los Angeles. Built in the 1920s, the structure housed the Bank of Italy, which later became Bank of America.

The Giannini Place building in downtown Los Angeles housed the former Bank of Italy, which had a massive vault that included space for 12,000 safe-deposit boxes.

A security camera next door to Giannini Place is seen through a broken window pane on the third floor of the former Bank of Italy building.

Ornate columns adorn the second floor of the Giannini Place building at 649 S. Olive St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Exquisite details are visible on a column on the second floor of the Giannini Place building at 649 S. Olive St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Structural columns are exposed on the third floor of the Giannini Place building at 649 S. Olive St. in downtown Los Angeles.

The former Bank of Italy vault is located in the basement of the Giannini Place building in downtown Los Angeles.

An abandoned telephone lies near a side entrance to the Giannini Place building in downtown Los Angeles. The 1920s building housed the Bank of Italy.

The vault area in the basement of Giannini Place is dilapidated after years of neglect by former building owners.