Sleep Like Stars--in the LA Fashion District

The Los Angeles Fashion District is getting a new hotel—one with a perfect blend of hipster credibility and old Hollywood provenance.

Ace Hotel, the indie boutique chain based in Portland, Ore., will open in the historic United Artist Theater on Broadway near 9th Street.

The 12-story office building and 1,600-square-foot theater opened in 1927 on a site chosen by Mary Pickford, according to the Los Angeles Historic Theater Foundation. At the time, Pickford was the biggest Hollywood star in the world and one of the founders of United Artists, the first independent film studio, founded in 1919. Pickford’s partners in the endeavor were her husband (and arguable the second-biggest Hollywood star in the world) Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith.

Ace, which operates hotels in Portland, Seattle, New York and Palm Springs, will open the L.A. hotel in summer 2013. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 180-room hotel site will feature a pool, restaurant, bar and 1,600-seat theater.

Connecticut hotel investor Greenfield Partners bought the property last Fall for $11 million from Wescott Christian Center Inc., which had been operating a church at the site for many years.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar told the L.A. Times: “This is really a shot in the arm for the Bringing Back Broadway initiative. We’ve been talking about getting a boutique hotel here and now we have one with a brand name.”

The Bringing Back Broadway initiative is an ambitious plan to revitalize L.A.’s historic theater district—including reopening the vacant theaters on Broadway and bringing more retail, parking and transit options to the area.

Today I took a stroll over to the building (you can look in the windows from the CaliforniaMarket Center—that’s how close it is). Here are my shots of the building.

There are great photos of the interior of the theater at Blogdowntown and the L.A. Historic Theater Foundation’s site.

No word on what will happen to the Jesus Saves sign parked on the top of the building.