1929 Art Deco Landmark in Tug of War : It’s Preservationists vs. Miracle Mile Owner

The owner of a landmark Art Deco building on Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile has applied for a city permit to tear it down, while preservationists and city officials seek ways to save it from demolition.

Moussa Shaaya, owner of Wilshire Tower, which was the first major structure built in the once-fashionable shopping area, says he has a $15-million offer to buy the building, contingent on its demolition.

But the Los Angeles Conservancy and local homeowners say that Wilshire Tower at 5514 Wilshire Blvd. is the most important of a group of 19 Art Deco buildings they have been trying to preserve along the Miracle Mile, which lies between La Brea and Fairfax avenues.

“They are the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings left in the city,” said Nancy Michali, an urban designer and board member of the Miracle Mile Residential Assn. “This is the first one we’re going to battle over.”

The quarrel is being closely watched by community groups and area businessmen, who see it as a portent of future development along the eastern section of Miracle Mile.

The City Council Recreation, Library and Cultural Affairs Committee called Tuesday for a 30-day delay of a council vote on whether to designate the building a city historic-cultural monument. The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission recommended the designation after Shaaya applied for a demolition permit last month.

The Conservancy, a private preservation group, and the residential association have also been seeking to get Wilshire Tower and the 18 other buildings, all between Detroit Street and Burnside Avenue, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They consider Wilshire Tower key to their hopes because it is the most architecturally significant and, due to its block-long size, the most visible of the buildings.

Built in 1929, Wilshire Tower was the first store and office building erected in the area. Developer A. W. Ross wanted to create the Miracle Mile out of a section of Wilshire used as a service road for nearby oil fields. He persuaded Desmond’s, the largest men’s clothing store downtown at the time, to open a branch on the tower’s ground floor, and other fashionable stores soon followed.

Desmond’s Signs on Walls

Although Desmond’s closed this branch in 1980, its signs still hang on the tower walls. Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, a noted architect of the era, the building’s two lower retail floors have strong horizontal lines with rounded corners in a style called “Streamline Moderne.” The nine-story tower has a more elaborate design with exotic Egyptian-inspired carvings.

The building has attracted several architects, artists and designers as tenants, who chose it for its 15-foot-high ceilings and architectural flavor, said Douglas Chrismas, owner of the ACE Contemporary Exhibitions, an art gallery there. “The building is very friendly,” he said, “very much a community.”

But in the eyes of property owners and businessmen, that section of Miracle Mile needs the kind of revitalization and new construction seen in other areas of Wilshire Boulevard, and recently even in the western end of Miracle Mile.

Many of the Art Deco buildings the preservationists want to save seem run-down and some stores are empty. Several discount stores, including Mr. Price on the ground floor of Wilshire Tower itself, have congregated there with garish signs announcing perpetual sales.

‘Preserve Shoddiness’

Some do not consider Wilshire Tower or the other buildings worthy of preservation. “Preserving those old Art Deco buildings in effect will only preserve the shoddiness of the district,” said Roger Olson, president of Dwyer-Curlett & Co., mortgage bankers in the area. “I think the best thing for the Miracle Mile would be for someone to come in and raze the whole thing. It would be wonderful if someone would introduce some new capital there.”

Lyn MacEwen Cohen, president of the residential association, finds it frustrating that progress in Los Angeles seems to mean demolition. “Why not explore what other cities have found to be an incredible draw?” she said of efforts elsewhere to combine new development with preservation of landmarks. “It’s not a new concept. It’s been done in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta.”

Shaaya opposes city monument designation of his building, saying: “This is a serious impact on ownership rights.” His building is a white elephant, he said, because the rentals earned do not live up to the potential of its location on Wilshire Boulevard.

Problems of Building Told

“I have to stick with (rental) prices that are relevant to the type of plumbing, no air-conditioning, very bad, leaky roofs,” Shaaya said. “Serious problems I cannot rectify unless I put in millions of dollars. It’s not worth it. It would never pencil out.”

City monument designation does not prevent a building’s demolition, but can prevent it from happening for at least six months. The extra time helps those trying to save a building come up with a compromise with the owner or perhaps a preservation-minded buyer.

The 30-day delay of the council vote was requested by Councilman John Ferraro, who represents the Miracle Mile area. His deputy, Sharon Keyser, said, “We’re looking at options with the owner of modifying the zoning so that he could do a development in the rear portion of the property.”