Inside the Arts District's Engine Co. 17

LA Observed photos.

For years I've been intrigued by the long-closed fire station adjacent to Bread Lounge on Santa Fe Avenue in the Arts District. It always looked from the outside like a good candidate for adaptive reuse, located around the corner from Bestia, a few steps from Stumptown Coffee and across Santa Fe Avenue from the expensive renovation of the former Ford car factory, the future home of Warner Music. This year I read about the plans to reinvent the LAFD's former Engine Co. 17 as a boutique hotel, and this weekend I finally got to see inside the place. The doors were opened for a three-day sample sale for Clare V, the Silver Lake-based accessories retailer.

The 1927 brick fire station has a patio area in the back and what looks to have been a handball court. Upstairs are signs that someone used the space as a loft, with a kitchen area and some dividing walls. The plans call for ten hotel guest rooms upstairs, with dining and event facilities downstairs. Here are some renderings in April from Urbanize LA. Owner Engine Real Estate has other properties around LA.

Here's the station's page at the Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive. The engine company moved out in 1980 [not 2011] for a new station to the south on Santa Fe. The old station's address is 710 South Santa Fe Avenue.

Historical photo from LA Fire.com.