Orange County Register
12/30/15

Historic Downtown Los Angeles Building to Become Hip Hotel
By the Associated Press

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/downtown-698003-hotel-hoxton.html

LOS ANGELES – A British firm that spent $30 million on a crumbling but historic building in downtown Los Angeles plans to transform it into a hip hotel, according to a real estate brokerage.

The purchase by Hoxton is the latest bet that the neighborhood’s renewal is luring tourists and not just business travelers, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

“Downtown is thriving and international companies are all taking note,” said Sara Lo, a senior manager specializing in the hospitality business at consulting and accounting firm Ernst & Young.

The 1920s-era building at 11th Street and Broadway has been empty since the mid- to late 1990s. JLL, the brokerage involved in the purchase, said Hoxton is planning a hotel but declined to give additional details.

A representative from Hoxton owner Ennismore of London declined to comment on the deal.
Downtown has transformed in recent years, with a growing number of dining and nightlife options.

The hotel market is strong — with a 77 percent occupancy rate that beats the 75 percent average for the nation’s top 25 markets, Lo said. A total of 4,000 hotel rooms are being built or are planned for downtown, with a quarter of those being boutique projects, she said.

A Hoxton niche hotel could charge up to $300 a night for its rooms, Alan Reay of Atlas Hospitality Group told the newspaper.

Hoxton operates hotels in London and Amsterdam and has plans for ones in New York in Paris.