Engine Co. No. 17, a historic fire station in the Arts District, is well into its transformation into a boutique hotel.

Local real estate firm Creative Space is transforming the upper floor of the two-story brick structure at 710 S. Santa Fe Avenue into 10 guest rooms.  Plans also call for 2,200 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, as well as patio seating that will be built into existing exterior space wrapping the building.

Built in 1928, Engine Co. No. 17 is located directly across the street from the historic Ford Factory at 7th Street and Santa Fe, which will soon become the new West Coast headquarters of Warner Music Group.

It also sits just up the street from a former warehouse that is being converted into a new outpost of the private club Soho House.  The historic building will offer 48 hotel rooms.

Other proposed hotels in the neighborhood include the proposed conversion of a former warehouse at 4th and Alameda Streets, and a project that would involve historic restoration and ground-up construction at 2057 E. 7th Street.