The building at 801 South Broadway was once the largest department store west of Chicago. Originally known as Hamburgers, then as May Co., this 1.1M sf building occupies two-thirds of a city block in the Broadway Theater & Commercial District, a National Historic District. The building’s conversion to a mixed-use complex represents one of the most consequential developments in downtown in decades. The building will hold roughly 500,000 sf of offices, a 150-room hotel and 200,000 sf devoted to retail, restaurants, and a food hall. With the exception of work required for restoration and preservation, we are leaving intact the Neoclassical-style facade and its elaborate yet refined ornamentation. The ground floor storefronts will be partially restored and partially updated to meet modern commercial needs. Our scope also included an extensive seismic upgrade, requiring 150 trucks’ worth of concrete just for the building’s modified foundation alone.

The 110,000-square-foot rooftop is a design collaboration between Studio-MLA and Omgivning, and will be a community unto itself. We are also adding new levels to its expansive roof while restoring its original use as a public gathering area. It will have a park, olive grove, urban farm, two swimming pools, and new and rehabilitated penthouse structures that will hold 7 restaurant/bars.

We are carving into the building to create a large courtyard and 2 soaring light wells, allowing for more natural exposure and introducing greenery through landscaped patios, accessible from inside the building.