May Company Building (Broadway, Los Angeles) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
May Company Building
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Exterior view of The Hamburger's Store building (later became the May Company) on the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway, Los Angeles, ca.1912
Location in Downtown Los Angeles
Location	801 S. Broadway Los Angeles
Area	1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2)
Built	1906
Architect	Alfred F. Rosenheim
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
Part of	Broadway Theater and Commercial District (ID79000484)

Hamburger Department Store design, c. 1906

The May Company terrazzo at the entrance of the company's flagship department store in downtown Los Angeles

Contemporary view of the May Company Broadway building

The May Company Building on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, a.k.a. Hamburgers/May Company Department Store and the May Department Store Building, currently named the California Broadway Trade Center, was the flagship store of the May Company California department store chain. It is a contributing property to the NRHP-listed Broadway Theater and Commercial District.

History

By the start of the twentieth century, A. Hamburger & Sons had even outgrown their Spring Street location, which had 520 employees working on five floors.

In 1925, the Hamburgers sold their store to the May family of St. Louis for $8.5 million.

The department store closed in 1986 when May moved to the Seventh Marketplace and the building was turned into retail on the ground floors and a garment factory on the upper floors.

In 2014 it was announced that Waterbridge Capital had agreed to buy the building for an estimated $115–130 million ; L.A. City Council member Jose Huizar indicated plans a mixed-use development to include offices, a hotel, stores and/or apartments or condominiums. The acquisition by Waterbridge Capital and New York real estate developer Jack Jangana - Broadbridge LA LLC - was completed on August 20, 2014.

A spokesman for the company that helped broker the deal said plans include a 24-month renovation that will result in a "creative campus" similar to Twitter's headquarters building in San Francisco. The investors' goal is to create "one of the largest single tech centers" in the United States.

In early 2020, the building was still being renovated when all construction projects in California were halted by order of the governor in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Waterbridge Capital and Continental Equities sought $251 million in bridge financing to replace $213 million in financing from Starwood Property trust that was about to expire. In August 2020, having failed to secure the additional financing, they began seeking buyers for the unfinished building. In November 2020, it was reported that the asking price was $425 million.