What is going on with the Hollywood Brown Derby space?

UPDATE: OK, so not quite the Brown Derby space - Hello! gsjansen was kind enough to put an update on her Flickr photo complete with pics, check it out! Of course it now seems clear as day to me that it's not the same space, but I love this store front all the same.

Back when I became obsessed with all the awesome construction going on in Hollywood 90028, circa 2008/2009, there was one space that particularly fascinated me. It was an old storefront that was being preserved amid all the distraction:

That's 4/18/08 above, and here's what it looked like on 1/16/09:

I got laid off from my Hollywood job in June of 2009, and my pictures stop. I kept an eye on the construction when I happened to be in Hollywood, and by then it was all progressing quickly and looking shiny fast.

Then one day, a friend on Facebook linked to a series of Los Angeles then and now pictures on Flickr by gsjansen. She uses archival photos and Google street view. It's completely amazing.

And flipping through, I suddenly discovered that my favorite store front was the Hollywood Brown Derby in 1928 (click for pic). She also states that, "before it became the brown derby, this building was built for Cecil B. Demille as his studio office before the laskey movie studios at vine and selma moved it's operation to Paramount on Melrose."

Making this space some serious Hollywood history that the developers in this area beautifully preserved.

Yet, it sits empty today:

 

Little known fact about me: I dream about being the kind of person who can buy buildings. Specificially, buildings in Hollywood. I love the historic Broadway building and I love the new Redbury, although I have to admit that I had no idea it was a hotel until just now when I looked up the link. Definitely putting a stay there on my list of things to do now that I'm employed in Hollywood once again. (Hooray!)

And now I have a new building to dream about. I imagine that the fate of the Hollywood Brown Derby space is tied to the cool looking building it's attached to (love the billboard and believe I spy an outdoor deck in the back upper left). The whole thing looks empty, so I suspect there's some sort of bankruptcy or legal conflict going on. Such a shame, because it's a great location and a beautiful space. And I tremble to think that someone might get their hands on it and pull the storefront.

I don't know what will happen next, but I do know that I will be watching and dreaming.

Comments

[Melise]

Hey don't worry about them pulling it down. The historic preservation community in Hollywood is WAY too involved for that. If they could have pulled it down, trust me they already would have. Don't forget, back when I was a wee tot, I worked for an historic preservation firm located at the corner of Whitley and Hollywood Blvd., so I know whereof I speak!

Have you seen what remains of the Derby part of the Brown Derby restaurant? When the restaurant left Hollywood it was moved to a location on Wilshire in what is now Koreatown. Then the location was redeveloped and the Derby was placed on top of a mini-mall. http://flic.kr/p/9XC6w

As for the building in Hollywood--much more likely that it is, as you guessed, stuck in bankruptcy...there is an awful lot of new construction around this city that was started before the great recession, and is now completed, but they can't find any tenants.

[lizriz]

Hi, Melise! It is good to think it's protected, but it makes me so sad nothing's in there. It looks like they really did a beautiful job.