Irvine-Byrne Building

Irvine-Byrne Building, originally called Irvine Block, was designed by Sumner Hunt and built for Margaret Irvine of Irvine Ranch in 1894, with construction supervised by George Wyman. James W. Byrne, who had offices in the building since at least 1896, purchased the building in 1905 and subsequently changed its name to Byrne Building. Additional building tenants during its early years include McCormick-Henderson Company, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Mount Lowe Springs Company, I. Magnin, at least one dentist and real-estate agent, and numerous lawyers and architects. The Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles was also located in this building during World War II.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31252361/i-magnin-moves-from-spring-to-broadway/|title=I Magnin moves from Spring to Broadway 1|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=Dec 31, 1898|pages=4|via=newspapers.com}}

The building caught fire on February 16, 1911, after which Willis Polk led repairs and alterations.

Irvine-Byrne Building was not listed in the National Register of Historic Places's Broadway Theater and Commercial District when it was first created in 1979,{{cite web|title=California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District|publisher=United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858983|date=May 9, 1979}} but it was included when the district was expanded in 2002. The building was also listed as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #544 in 1991.

The building's ground-floor housed a Giant Penny discount store from the 1980s to 2004, after which the building underwent a $20 million {{USDCY|20000000|2004}} conversion to residential. Donald Barany Architects supervised the remodel, paid for by Urban Pacific Builders.

Irvine-Byrne Building is built of brick, decorated with terra cotta, and features a three-tiered Classical Revival/Beaux Arts design.{{cite web|title=Irvine-Byrne Building|publisher=City of Los Angeles|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=227735|date=1991}} Elements of the design in the building include:

• an entrance offset to the north on the eastern end of the building, distinguished by a keystone arch, above which "Pan American Building" is written in raised letters
• second through fourth floor bays faced with buff brick and defined by Ionic pilasters
• three and two-window baus on the second-through-fifth floors of east and south exteriors
• paneled spandrels and soldier brick lintels that mark the second and third story windows
• arch-topped fourth floor windows punctuated with keystones
• a plain string course and an egg and dart molding above the fourth floor arches and Ionic capitals
• paneled pilasters between bays on the fifth floor
• a denticulated and bracketed cornice along with decorative moldings edged by a plain frieze that cap the south and east exteriors
• an interior courtyard circled by the building's upper levels.{{cite news|title=Mixing the Old With the New |first=Kathleen Nye|last=Flynn|newspaper=Los Angeles Downtown News|url=https://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/mixing-the-old-with-the-new/article_95813e8d-6395-51fa-8e35-b10dae5c6726.html|date=December 18, 2006}}

The condition and integrity of the building are both considered good.

Numerous films and television commercials have shot in the Irvine-Byrne Building, most notably Seven.

• List of contributing properties in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Downtown Los Angeles

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Category:Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles

Category:Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1894

Category:1890s architecture in the United States

Category:Broadway (Los Angeles)