City council designates Wilshire-area apartment building a historic cultural monument after contested hearing

The Los Angeles City Council voted to designate a multiunit building on the Wilshire corridor as a historic cultural monument on a 14-0 vote after a public hearing that included competing testimony from the property's trustee and neighbors seeking protection.

The designation covers the building discussed at the hearing, which supporters described as a rare chateau-style, multifamily residence built in the 1930s along Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood/Holmby Hills. Councilmember Weiss led the council in supporting the measure, calling the structure “an architectural treasure” tucked among modern high-rises.

Supporters said the building qualifies under local, state and national criteria. Ken Bernstein, representing the Los Angeles Conservancy, told the council the site is eligible for listing as a historic cultural monument and the National Register of Historic Places and warned that a demolition permit already is pending. “We are up against the 60-day time limit, under which the council needs to act on the nomination,” Bernstein said, adding that a continuance would let the demolition permit proceed.

Speakers at the hearing included the property trustee, who opposed the designation, and neighbors and preservation groups who urged protection. Frank McGinnity, identified in the record as trustee for the Saint John Trust, said the property needs “substantial repair, probably dollars 400,000 to be put into it,” and asked the council to defer action for 30 days so the owner could reassess the situation. Rita Toussaint, the applicant and an adjacent homeowner, said the building is in “absolutely” good condition and that neighbors and preservation organizations support designation. Jason St. John and other residents said they had potential buyers willing to preserve the building.

Councilmembers who spoke emphasized the building’s rarity and the neighborhood effort to save it. Weiss said the designation would help preserve “this last remaining vestige of this particular type of architecture in LA history.” The council adopted the nomination without a continuance.

What the council approved was the designation itself; it did not adopt a funding or rehabilitation plan. Supporters said the designation could buy time to find a buyer or preservation solution; opponents, including the trustee, said the designation could disrupt current escrow and complicate redevelopment plans.

The council’s action came after the cultural heritage commission’s review and documentary material submitted by preservation advocates, including an architectural-historian report cited at the hearing. The council did not make a decision at the meeting about any demolition permit; that process remains with the Department of Building and Safety and related permit authorities.

Copies of the council action and nomination materials will be filed with the cultural heritage commission and appropriate permitting departments.