Try to top this: Elevate takes the downtown scene to new heights

THERE’S high and then there’s high -- which is how Emil Eyvazoff felt the first time he stepped off the elevator on the 21st floor and cast his eyes on the space that would become Elevate, downtown’s newest uber-lounge.

“We viewed over a hundred locations,” Elevate’s co-owner recalls of the spot at 811 Wilshire Blvd. “We told the two guys looking for us, ‘Make sure it’s jaw-droppingly unique.’ Then in April of ’05 we saw [this] spot, and I think by the fourth step out of the elevator I said, ‘This is it.’ ”

Two years later, the long-running Standard Rooftop has some stiff competition for clubgoers seeking a picturesque backdrop to their revelry. Adjoined by Takami Sushi and Robata Bar, an upscale Japanese restaurant, Elevate boasts an indoor/outdoor setting unlike anything else in L.A.

“It is what it is. It’s not like we created a virtual reality. You are indoor and outdoor at once,” general manager Greg Omotoy says. “I love for [clubgoers] to go, ‘Wow, that’s new and different.’ ”

The 360-degree view, which stretches to the Westside and the Hollywood sign on clear nights, greets you after you disembark the elevator. Equally impressive is the 150-foot patio, with sliding glass doors, on the outskirts of the sunken dance floor.

“I live downtown and it’s the nicest place around, it seems. It has the views, the cool crowd, the exclusive atmosphere,” clubgoer Adam Marquis says. “There are not a lot of high-end places downtown yet.”

While construction took over two years -- often at odd hours to avoid interfering with the offices in the building -- the buzz built quickly.

Elevate even recently raised the stakes to try to lure a different demographic up to the 21st floor, hosting famed New York DJ Moby in a special one-off co-promoted by Eastside hipster party maven Franki Chan’s I Heart Comix crew and major club promoters Giant.

Now the 350-capacity club, which opened in August for a few private parties, is already having to turn patrons away on weekends. “We tell people to go somewhere else because we don’t want people to ruin their Friday or Saturday nights,” Eyvazoff says.

As a downtown resident himself (and former USC student), Eyvazoff says catering to the neighborhood is the No. 1 priority. “Our main goal is to attract those people that work and live in downtown,” he says, “and whether those people are grungy or in suits, everybody gets along.”

-- Steve Baltin

theguide@latimes.com

--

ELEVATE

WHERE: 811 Wilshire Blvd., 21st floor, L.A.

WHEN: 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday

PRICE: Cover varies

INFO: (213) 236-9600; www.elevatelounge.com