Loft living with touches of glam at the Broadway Hollywood

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Actress Ivana Milicevic sits in the living room of her 1,000-square-foot space at the Broadway Hollywood lofts. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Milicevic went for a full-on sensory experience in the bathroom, including vibrant red paint and light-catching teardrops dangling from the sconces. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Milicevic with Kelly Cole, former owner of the vintage T-shirt shop and gallery Lo-Fi, who with set decorator Rob Montalbano helped the actress achieve her vision: “It had to be sexy,” she says.

Above, Cole and Milicevic stand next to a concrete column wrapped in snakeskin-embossed leather, which is laced up like a corset. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Milicevic’s bedroom has lots of storage, topped with ambient lighting that showcases bright red vases against pink walls. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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The living-dining-kitchen space in interior designer Jennifer Culp’s home at the Broadway Hollywood lofts. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Interior designer Jennifer Culp with her husband, John Hoffman, and dog, Tito. The George Smith sofa is upholstered in a Kelly Wearstler white-on-brown fabric. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Jennifer Culp’s bedroom serves as a bohemian chic sanctuary, with batik pillows from John Robshaw and a curtain to create a cocoon. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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This midcentury chair was updated with white lacquer and colorful new upholstery, creating a bold accent for the room in Jennifer Culp’s loft. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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The challenge for Heidi Toll, designer for Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction fame? Decorate his Broadway Hollywood loft in a way that’s “functional, but with the ability to feel like a late-night, after-hours bar.” And to do that in just two weeks. Pictured here is Navarro’s living room, with bedroom in the back. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

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Toll put together this platform bed for Navarro. It’s upholstered in a white vinyl called Spank. The graphic wallpaper and black crystal chandelier — which casts a red glow over the bed — give the room a “bordello” feel to it, according to Navarro. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

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A wider view of Dave Navarro’s apartment, including the kitchen. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

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A silver skull sits on Navarro’s snakeskin dining table. “Once I get home from the chaos of everyday living, from tour or from working with the band or whatever the case may be, I want to feel like I’m stepping into a vacation,” Navarro says. “Living in a loft is the closest I could get to living in a high-end hotel while owning the place.” (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

By Audrey Davidow

Sept. 27, 2008 12 AM PT

Special to The Times

IT’S HARDLY the vision of classic loft living. No funky freight elevators, no heroic climbs. No industrial neighbors and no industrial-strength rodents. The Broadway Hollywood, a 1927 department store tower revamped into 96 loft-style condominiums, has taken the concept and given it some L.A. sparkle.

Call it loft-living lite: fitness center, valet, even cabanas for lounging by the rooftop pool. The black-and-white checkerboard floor in the lobby seems primed for Fred and Ginger. The views are cinematic too -- the Capital Records building, the Hollywood sign and, oh, yes, that 15-story W Hotel and condominium complex being built next door (a bit of the new Hollywood).

For most residents, the location -- on the landmark corner of Hollywood and Vine -- is a big part of the appeal. You can stumble home from Geisha House without having to call a cab, and the packed sushi joint Katsuya is downstairs. The prospect of daily toro binges can pose a hazard to the waistline.

“You know you’re in trouble when all of the waiters know you by name,” says voice-over actor Jonathan Cooke, who lives in the building.

Trouble can come in less appetizing forms. In July, some Broadway owners filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing the nearby nightclub S Bar of operating in an “unreasonably and unacceptably disruptive manner.”

But others who want loft-lite living seem willing to endure the nuisances and pay handsomely. One of the two-story, 2,000-square-foot penthouses was recently listed at nearly $1.8 million. Actors Danny Masterson and Charlize Theron own units in the building. The Broadway also has become home to Hollywood hopefuls, young residents banking on this building to play a role in the comeback of the neighborhood. It’s an interesting mix of people. Here’s a peek into a few of their sets.

You’ll also find more than a dozen additional photos at latimes.com/home.

Loft living with touches of glam at the Broadway Hollywood

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