USC Buys Embassy Hotel for College Use

USC bought the historic Embassy Hotel in downtown Los Angeles for $12.6 million Friday and announced plans to turn it into a residential college where nearly 400 students and faculty members will live, study and share scholarship interests beginning in August.

University President James H. Zumberge called the purchase of the nine-story structure at 851 S. Grand Ave. “bold and imaginative . . . yet another indication of USC’s 107-year commitment to the development of Los Angeles.”

The deal went through swiftly. Lyn Hutton, USC’s senior vice president for administration, said escrow opened on Tuesday and closed on Friday. She said the seller, developer Peter Beale, closed escrow on his own purchase of the Embassy only two weeks before, so most of the title search and other paper work was already done.

In addition, Hutton said, the purchase by USC was an all-cash deal.

Bought From Family

Beale bought the 74-year-old Embassy from the Knill Family Trust, which last year filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code protection. He reportedly paid $11.3 million.

Hutton called the Embassy site on the edge of the South Park redevelopment area “a wonderful location” for a residential college of the sort that evolved in Europe, where students--both undergraduates and graduates--will be in a “live-work-study” setting with faculty members.

The Embassy, built in 1914 as a church and subsequently used as a concert and performing arts hall and as a hotel, has a 1,600-seat auditorium. It also contains a restaurant, which will remain open to the public, as well as to students and faculty.

The building, Hutton said, was extensively remodeled between 1982 and 1985, when new plumbing and air-conditioning systems were installed and the lobby was restored.

“There are still some things we will have to do,” Hutton said, noting that it was remodeled as a hotel and that USC plans to install faculty apartments, galleries, classrooms, studios and rehearsal and conference rooms, as well as fire protection and security systems. There are also plans for a weight and exercise room.

She said the Embassy also has space for a library that will be electronically linked to the Doheny Library on the main USC campus at University Park.

Hutton called the move “very exciting” and said USC officials believe that a residential college “will enhance the total academic experience of university life.” The purpose, she added, “is to foster collegiality and provide a stimulating learning environment outside the classroom.”

The USC Embassy Residential College will open its doors to the first students and faculty residents in late August, according to Kristine Dillon, USC associate vice president for student affairs. During the first year, the residents will probably include 75 graduate students, 320 undergraduates and 2 faculty members.

Two to Room

There will probably not be more than two students to a room, Hutton said, and in many cases only one.

Directors of USC’s fine arts and liberal arts programs have expressed the most initial interest in placing students and teachers in the residential college, officials said.

The plan to develop a residential college patterned after those in Europe resulted from the recommendations of a university-wide task force that sought to ease the problem of living accommodations for USC students.

Dillon, who chaired the task force, said it was recommended that two residential colleges be established--one on campus.

“When the Embassy property became available,” she said, “the university saw a match between idea and opportunity. How could we do better than a building with architectural and historical importance, its own theater and space for art studios, music practice rooms and its own restaurant”?

‘European College’

Not only does the Embassy put students close to the growing downtown art scene, Dillon said, “it even looks like a European college.”

A regular tram service will operate between the Embassy and the main campus, Dillon said. The Embassy’s theater will continue to offer cultural events to the public.

The current management company, Gestec Properties, will continue to operate the restaurant and hotel until August, when USC’s own staff will take over. The school said it hopes to keep as many of the present employees as possible.

The university plans to have fifth-year architectural students study the building and come up with ideas for more amenities to enhance the live-work-study aspect without damaging the architectural integrity. Their work will be reviewed by a jury of professional architects, and a professional will draw the final plans for further refurbishing.