The Hollywood Center Motel Burned Down This Morning *Updated*
The Hollywood Center Motel - consisting of a 1905-ish house surrounded by bungalows built a few decades later - caught on fire early this morning.
The motel, which was originally housing, was recently nominated for landmark status. Victorian houses are very, very rare in Hollywood.
LAFD reports that it was a knockdown fire. Citizen reports it was a two-story structure, and a few of the posted videos show fire damage to the original house, El Nido.
The following pictures appear courtesy of Father Dylan:
If you’d like to see more of the damage, my friends at Esotouric have been actively posting photos and videos on their Instagram.
PLEASE STAY OFF THE PROPERTY. IT IS NOT SAFE.
And if you’re curious about the property’s 120-year history, Hollywood Heritage is having a FREE virtual program on Wednesday at 7pm (it was scheduled some time ago and is proceeding as planned).
The motel had a known issue with squatters (a vacate order was posted last month). At least two people were trapped inside the burning house, and one of them had to be taken to a hospital in unknown condition.
I was afraid of this. I’ve mentioned previously that we have a demolition-by-neglect problem in Los Angeles, and the motel has had previous fires. Now LAFD’s arson unit is investigating.
I also mentioned in an earlier post that the owner of the motel had previously applied for demolition permits, despite not having a replacement project lined up for the site.
Because of this fire, they may not need one.
The demolition-by-neglect pattern is frustratingly predictable at this point, especially when prior demolition permits got filed without replacement plans. Victorian housing stock in Hollywood is rare enough that losing El Nido to what appears to be arson (with squatter presence and previous fires) feels less like accident and more like outcome. I've seen similar dynamics playout in other cities where property sits deliberately unmaintained until fire or collapse solves the "problem" for the owner. The landmark nomination timing makes this even more suspect.
..it really is a shame. the hollywood center motel was truly a hollywood landmark.. RiP El Nido