Downtown LA Transformation Continues With Apple Store
An Apple Store is going into Downtown LA, but the question is: where? Speculation had it at The Bloc or Broadway Trade Center in the Historic Core. Now rumor has it that Apple is eyeing the historic Tower Theatre at 8th Street and Broadway.
Once downtown’s theater district, this area of South Broadway is bustling near the Broadway Trade Center, according to DTLA Rising. A little further down the street the Rialto Theatre has already been converted to an Urban Outfitters store.
One of about 250 movie theaters designed by the esteemed architect Simeon Charles Lee, the French Renaissance-style Tower Theatre, which was built in 1927, is one of the most beautiful historic structures in Downtown. The owner, the Delijani family, had already begun making changes to the interior, as they'd originally planned to turn the theater into a restaurant and bar. All the seats on the ground level have been removed, creating an empty box with nearly 7,500 SF on the interior and a similarly sized basement.
Apple has previously adapted its store design in repurposed historic structures. One of its busiest store locations worldwide is in a historic building on Regent Street in London, and Apple’s flagship store in New York is in the historic Grand Central Terminal. An Apple Store in Downtown LA is another indication that retailers are “sitting up and taking notice” to both the demographics and growing residential density there. [DTLA Rising]
