Developer wants to transform offices to apartments
By Hanna Kang | The LA Local
Published August 19, 2026 12:00 PM
The Crosby apartment complex at 3350 Wilshire Blvd. in Koreatown. The development includes a former office tower that was converted into 216 apartments.
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Hanna Kang
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The LA Local
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Topline:
Los Angeles is making a new push to turn empty and underused offices into housing. One developer is holding a large portfolio of somewhat underutilized or vacant office buildings in Koreatown and Westlake, giving them a chance to respond to the city’s housing crisis.
More details: Jamison, Koreatown’s largest commercial landlord, has owned office buildings along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor for decades and two more of its proposed conversions are near Lafayette Park in Westlake. At least 15 Jamison office buildings in the two neighborhoods have been converted into housing, are under construction or under proposal for conversion into apartments, according to a review of city records and company documents.
The backstory: The expansion of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance makes it easier to turn old offices, hotels and other commercial buildings into homes. The ordinance previously only allowed conversions within or near downtown, but now those rules apply across the entire city.
Los Angeles is making a new push to turn empty and underused offices into housing.
One developer is holding a large portfolio of somewhat underutilized or vacant office buildings in Koreatown and Westlake, giving them a chance to respond to the city’s housing crisis.
Jamison, Koreatown’s largest commercial landlord, has owned office buildings along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor for decades and two more of its proposed conversions are near Lafayette Park in Westlake.
At least 15 Jamison office buildings in the two neighborhoods have been converted into housing, are under construction or under proposal for conversion into apartments, according to a review of city records and company documents.
Together, the projects could account for 3,652 apartments, though more than 900 of those units are still only proposals.
The expansion of the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance makes it easier to turn old offices, hotels and other commercial buildings into homes. The ordinance previously only allowed conversions within or near downtown, but now those rules apply across the entire city.
City officials estimate this could open up more than 43,000 new homes across the city.
“These projects represent the kind of innovation we are applying to break away from the status quo that has stunted LA’s housing production and driven up rents for decades,” Mayor Karen Bass said in April. “Work from home and other shifts mean there is a large supply of office space that we can use for housing, but for too long, outdated city regulations stood in the way.”
Jaime Lee, Jamison’s former CEO, said in a March interview with the Los Angeles Times that the firm has stopped pursuing new ground-up construction as financing and other challenges have made it harder to build.
“We ourselves as a firm have been pencils down on ground-up construction for two years now,” Lee said. “What we’re really, really focused on is how can we make more units out of nothing, which is converting office buildings into multifamily.”
Here’s where those 15 projects stand. A spokesperson for Jamison acknowledged a request for comment, but the company did not immediately provide comment for this story.
Eight of the projects were completed between 2013 and 2025, and two more recently opened.
Completed projects
Westmore, 3075 Wilshire Blvd.
The Westmore brought 127 apartments and ground-floor retail to a former office building in November 2013.
The nine-story building is on the eastern side of Koreatown, a few blocks east of Vermont Avenue and near the Wilshire/Vermont Metro station.
Westmore is the earliest completed Jamison office conversion identified in Koreatown and Westlake.
Crosby, 3350 Wilshire Blvd.
The 216-unit Crosby occupies a 1957 office tower that once served as Texaco’s West Coast headquarters. Designed by prominent Los Angeles architect Welton Becket, the building sits across from the historic Gaylord Apartments and near Immanuel Presbyterian Church.
The office conversion was completed in 2020 and the developer also built additional apartments on top of the adjoining parking garage, but those are excluded from this count because they weren’t created from office space.
Atlas House, 2500 Wilshire Blvd.
One block west of MacArthur Park, the 13-story Atlas House opened in 2022 with 248 apartments inside what had been a roughly 240,000-square-foot office building.
About 12,500 square feet of commercial space was kept on the ground floor.
Five other Jamison office conversions are already finished along the Wilshire corridor and total more than 860 apartments.
Recently opened and in the works
Grayson, 695 S. Vermont Ave.
Grayson is now open and leasing, with 255 apartments inside the former office tower.
The 19-story building dates to 1971 and was originally built as an expansion of Pacific Indemnity Co.’s headquarters, which also occupied the neighboring tower at 3200 Wilshire Blvd.
The conversion kept the existing tower and parking garage.
The building is a short walk from the Wilshire/Vermont Metro station.
Mason, at 3325 Wilshire Blvd. in Koreatown, is now open and leasing. The former 13-story office building was converted into 236 apartments.
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Hanna Kang
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The LA Local
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Mason, 3325 Wilshire Blvd.
Mason is also now open and leasing, with 236 apartments inside a former 13-story office building.
The roughly 233,000-square-foot building is at Wilshire and Berendo, on the same block as Immanuel Presbyterian Church. About 15,000 square feet of retail space is on the ground floor, and the parking garage has 450 spaces.
Work on the conversion began in 2024. Jamison called Mason its 10th adaptive-reuse project, and the project was financed in part with $60 million in taxable multifamily housing revenue bonds, according to Urbanize LA.
Walker, 3550 Wilshire Blvd.
Construction is still underway at Walker, where a 20-story office tower is being turned into 507 apartments, making it the largest Jamison office-to-housing project identified in Koreatown and Westlake.
While the city originally approved 495 apartments, Jamison later added another 12 units on the 20th floor.
The building is a few blocks east of the Wilshire/Normandie Metro station.
3424 Wilshire Blvd.
Work is underway at 3424 Wilshire Blvd., where the former Los Angeles-area headquarters of IBM is being turned into 260 apartments.
The 13-story building dates to 1958 and has roughly 250,000 square feet of space. IBM originally occupied the property, and it later became the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The conversion will turn the former office floors into apartments while keeping about 13,000 square feet of existing retail space. Plans also include racquetball courts, a fitness center, game and karaoke rooms and an outdoor deck, according to Urbanize LA.
Proposed projects
Jamison has filed plans for three more office conversions, but none could be confirmed as under construction based on city records.
Wilshire Park Place is one of several buildings in Koreatown that Jamison Properties wants to convert into housing.
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Brian Feinzimer
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The LA Local
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Wilshire Park Place, 3700 Wilshire Blvd.
Plans call for turning the 11-story Wilshire Park Place office tower into 370 apartments.
The building sits behind the large lawn commonly known as Liberty Park, one of the few green spaces in dense, park-poor Koreatown. Liberty Park is a privately owned green space that has been used for community gatherings, including World Cup watch parties. The park and office building were designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2018 after a neighborhood campaign to preserve the site.
According to the proposal, some space inside the existing parking structure would be converted into amenities for residents.
520 S. La Fayette Park Place
Another proposed conversion sits near Lafayette Park, where a six-story office building could become 141 apartments.
Plans filed in 2023 call for turning the roughly 95,000-square-foot building at 520 S. La Fayette Park Place into a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The building sits on top of parking for nearly 200 vehicles.
The former Los Angeles Superior Court office building at 600 S. Commonwealth Ave. in Westlake. Jamison Properties has proposed converting the 19-story building into 428 apartments.
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Hanna Kang
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The LA Local
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600 S. Commonwealth Ave.
On the other side of Lafayette Park in Westlake, Jamison has proposed a much larger conversion where a 19-story office tower could become 428 apartments.
The nearly 350,000-square-foot building has long housed Los Angeles Superior Court offices. The proposal would turn the office space into 428 apartments, while keeping most of the building’s existing parking and converting some of it into storage and other spaces for residents.
At 428 apartments, it would be Jamison’s second-largest office conversion identified in Koreatown and Westlake, behind the 507-unit Walker project.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published September 10, 2026 5:00 AM
A fruit vendor sells on Whittier Boulevard in East L.A.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
A recent AirTalk segment highlights the decades-long debate over street vending in Los Angeles. Despite efforts by the City Council and statewide law, enforcement remains murky at best, even though it's a fixture of Los Angeles culture.
Why now? During a recent debate, Mayor Karen Bass made a series of comments that cast street vending in an unsavory light, prompting an almost immediate backlash from her opponent, Nithya Raman, who has devised her own nine-point plan to address street vending if elected.
Why is it important? Street vendors are as much a part of L.A.'s identity as its restaurants — but the system meant to support them is so broken that only a fraction operate with full legal standing. As this becomes a defining issue in the mayor's race, it's worth knowing the difference between political rhetoric and how the rules actually work on the ground.
Last month, street vending became a flashpoint during one of the recent debates for L.A. mayor when incumbent Karen Bass said, "I do not think that you should have a food vendor in front of a restaurant. Period," drawing a comparison to unhoused encampments.
The remarks set off an almost immediate backlash. Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, who has her own 9-point plan to support street vendors, said Bass "took a shot" at the street vending community and reiterated her commitment to work toward regulations and legalizing their operations.
Bass's office later eased its stance, saying it had directed the LAPD to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors — and to dismiss any that had been issued in error.
Street vending remains part of the Los Angeles landscape, and the backlash from the debate brought to light just how confusing its legality can be. To understand how we got here, it helps to start with the basics.
Is street vending legal?
Yes. Since SB 946 in 2018, state law has decriminalized it. That means cities and counties can't criminally cite vendors or ban them from specific zones. They can, however, still enforce health and safety rules — things like sidewalk clearance and ADA access.
So why does it feel unregulated?
On a recent segment forAirTalk, Memo Torres ofL.A. Taco pointed to a stark gap between L.A.'s vending population and its permitted vendors. According to an email from the California Restaurant Association reported byFOX 11, an estimated 50,000 street vendors operate across Los Angeles — yet only 53 hold permits specifically for food sales.
Why so few permits?
Vending requirements largely mirror restaurant-grade standards — large refrigeration units, multi-basin sinks — that don't fit the reality of most vendor setups: flat-top griddles, folding tables, pop-up tents.
That isn't to say there haven't been efforts by the city to address the permitting gap. In 2024, the City Council, with Raman's backing, voted to drop the annual permit fee from $541 to $27.51.
Raman's mayoral campaign has since proposed another potential fix: extending a state permit category — currently used by vendors at farmers markets who share equipment like a communal three-compartment sink — to street vendors, so operators wouldn't need their own restaurant-grade setup to qualify.
What about health and safety?
County health inspectors technically oversee street food vendors, but both industry and vendor advocates agree enforcement is inconsistent — leaving reliable data on violations hard to come by.
Are vendors and restaurants actually enemies?
A 2015 Economic Roundtable study found that businesses located near street vendors were more likely to see job growth than those without nearby vendors.
What’s next
Proposals like Raman's permitting reforms aim to close the gap — but for now, most of L.A.'s vendors remain outside the formal system.
Outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground ahead of the NFL game between the Rams and 49ers. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
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Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
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Associated Press
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Topline:
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
Why it matters: The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The backstory: The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment. The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
What's next: The Rams and 49ers kick off at 5:35 p.m. Thursday night on Netflix.
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks in the traditional manner and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment.
The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
Both teams agree this contrast in preparation is not a referendum on the best way to handle a pair of 16-hour flights with a football game in between — even if the rest of the world might see it that way after the final whistle.
Instead, this game is primarily a difficult early test for both the Super Bowl favorite Rams and the talent-laden 49ers, who also intend to be a title challenger. The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.
“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who will make his Rams debut in Australia. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing. I think we’re both riding our methodologies.”
Garrett will be joined by star cornerback Trent McDuffie and cornerback Jaylen Watson in their debuts with Los Angeles’ revamped defense.
“I’ve never been more excited to be wrong about something,” Shanahan said.
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Frank Stoltze
is a veteran reporter who covers local politics and examines how democracy is and, at times, is not working.
Published September 9, 2026 6:36 PM
The Jail complex in downtown Los Angeles
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Robert Garrova / LAist
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Topline:
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, specifically looking into whether L.A. County has failed to provide environmentally safe, humane and habitable conditions for people held there.
The details: The jail has long been plagued by allegations of poor conditions. Monitors from the American Civil Liberties Union have documented problems including overcrowding, severe mold and mildew, and rodent infestations.
The context: The federal investigation is expected to focus on conditions within the facility and not the actions of the county sheriff’s deputies who staff it, according to the Justice Department. The new investigation is separate from a 2015 settlement between the county and federal government, which stemmed from allegations of inadequate mental health care provided at county jails.
What happens next: Investigators will determine whether the county has violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, and 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
Reaction: L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger welcomed the investigation, and said she had said for year that the jail was “antiquated, inhumane, and unfit for our workforce and those incarcerated there.”
Jason Wells
manages the daily news product that you hear and read every day.
Published September 9, 2026 5:13 PM
Smoke rises from a brush fire near the Getty Center on Sept. 9, 2026.
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CBS LA
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Topline:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
What we know so far: As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This story is no longer being actively updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above. Forward progress of the fire was reported stopped shortly after 6 p.m. at a little over 20 acres.
