Broadway Mart Center

Prior to Broadway Mart Center, the SW corner of Broadway and 4th Street was the site of the three-story Hallett & Pirtle Building, designed by Frederick Rice Dorn and built in 1895. The following year, Arthur Letts bought The Broadway, located in one of the building's storefronts. By 1904, The Broadway occupied the entire ground floor, and in 1905, it acquired the upper floors as well.{{cite web |title=Hallett and Pirtle Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/19294/ |publisher=University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database |access-date=23 October 2024 |first=Alan |last=Michelson}}{{cite news | title = Hallett & Pirtle Block | newspaper = Los Angeles Herald | date = August 4, 1895 | page = 6}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-12-mn-1126-story.html |title=The Broadway: Bright History, Uncertain Future |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 12, 1991 |first=Martha |last=Groves}}

In 1912, The Broadway announced plans for a new nine-story building to replace the Hallett & Pirtle Building. This building, the Broadway Mart Center, was designed by Parkinson and Bergstrom, the architectural duo responsible for several buildings on Broadway, including Trustee Building, Yorkshire Hotel, Bullock's Building, and Metropolitan Building, and was built in 1913-1915.{{cite news |title=Store Doubled in Few Hours: Expansion of The Broadway Seems Feat of Magic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52801013/store-doubled-in-few-hours/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 17, 1915}} The company claimed they "ransacked the earth for merchandise" to fill their new building, which when completed contained five entrances (three on Broadway, one on Fourth Street, and one on Hill Street), eleven passenger and four freight elevators, and {{convert|460,000|sqft|sqm}} of space.{{cite news |title=Plans Out for Mammoth Store |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52800220/plans-out-for-mammoth-store/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 29, 1912}}

Broadway Mart Center's first phase of construction involved acquiring {{convert|71000|sqft|sqm}} of space in the Clark Hotel, which backed up to The Broadway. Then, the departments in Hallett & Pirtle Building's southern half were transferred here.{{cite news |title=Flits without Hour's Loss: Big Department Store Moves between Days |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52801917/flits-without-hours-loss/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 2, 1913}}{{cite news |title=Advertisement for The Broadway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52801558/important-announcement-in-broadway/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 3, 1913}}

For the second phase of construction, Hallett & Pirtle Building's now-empty southern half was demolished, then the southern half of the Broadway Mart Center was built in its place. This half, which measured {{convert|96600|sqft|sqm}}, opened on August 10, 1914 and carried the departments previously located the northern half of the original store.{{cite news |last=Gray |first=Olive |title=Broadway's First Unit Attracts Thousands |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52800578/broadways-first-unit-attracts-thousands/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 11, 1914}}{{cite news |title=Small Army Moves Store Contents: Broadway Department to Open in its New Quarters Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52800835/small-army-moves-store-contents/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 9, 1914}}

For the third and final stage of construction, the northern half of the Hallett & Pirtle Building was demolished, then the northern half of the Broadway Mart Center was built in its place. This half opened on June 25, 1915,{{cite news |title=Greater Broadway Department Store to Throw Open Doors Monday: Structure is Model of Safety and Possesses Conveniences of Special Merit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52801157/los-angeles-evening-express/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 16, 1915}} although its formal inauguration occurred September 16, 1915, during Fashion Week.{{cite news |title=New Store to Greet Guests: Indoor Inspection Plans for the "Broadway" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52800916/new-store-to-greet-guests-indoor/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 15, 1915}}

The Broadway occupied the Broadway Mart Center in its entirety from its construction to November 1973.{{cite news|title=Broadway Department Store Opens In New Site Saturday|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-old-building-futur/136072121/|date=November 16, 1973 |page=139}}

After The Broadway vacated Broadway Mart Center in 1973, the building was extensively vandalized and damaged by unsuccessful remodel attempts. Despite this, when the Broadway Theater and Commercial District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, Broadway Mart Center listed as a contributing property in the district.

In 1984, the building was bought by developer Roger Luby, whose renovation plans fell apart after his partners defaulted during the savings and loan crisis. The renovation, budgeted at $56 million {{USDCY|56000000|1984}}, was half complete when it defaulted in September 1986.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-05-mn-2853-story.html |title=John Wayne's Daughter, Friend Attacked |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 5, 1988 |first=Jim |last=Carlton}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-07-me-3382-story.html |title=Luby--a Success Story Plagued With Problems |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 7, 1988 |last1=Davidson |first1=Jean |last2=Carlton |first2=Jim |name-list-style=amp}}

The State of California bought the building in 1995 and reopened it four years later as the Junipero Serra Building, the lowest-cost state office building in California in the previous thirty years. The State received a Conservancy Preservation Award in 2000 for their work on this building. In 2009, the state looked into selling this and sixteen other buildings to bridge a $21 billion {{USDCY|21000000000|2009}} deficit. If sold, this building would have been leased back to the state for twenty years.{{cite news|title=State Selling Two Downtown Buildings|newspaper=Los Angeles Downtown News |url=https://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/state-selling-two-downtown-buildings/article_0364a1bb-d8e3-5e6c-b3c8-5d8cac96e40b.html|date=December 18, 2009 |first=Ryan |last=Vaillancourt}}

{{As of|2020|post=,}} this building is one of 56 managed by the California Department of General Services and one of two (the other being the Ronald Reagan State Building) located in Los Angeles.{{cite web |url=https://www.dgs.ca.gov/RESD/Resources/Page-Content/Real-Estate-Services-Division-Resources-List-Folder/List-of-DGS-Managed-Office-Buildings |title=List of DGS-Managed Office Buildings |work=California Department of General Services}}

Broadway Mart Center is made of steel, brick, and hollow tile with reinforced concrete floors and a brick and terra cotta facade. The building features a Beaux Arts design with Italian Renaissance Revival ornamentation that include pressed metal cornice with dentils, and egg-and-dart molding, carved modillions and a fillet band at the top.

• List of contributing properties in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District

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Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1913

Category:Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles

Category:Historic district contributing properties in California

Category:1910s architecture in the United States

Category:Broadway (Los Angeles)