A reader sends work has commenced on a long-delayed plan to convert a Pico-Union office building into a hotel.

Last year, the Korea Daily reported that Korean luxury hotel brand Shilla Hotels & Resorts was planning to open a new location of its Shilla Stay business hotel brand at 1543 W. Olympic Boulevard. Plans call for converting the interior of the five-story structure into 200 guest rooms with 238 parking spaces, a rooftop bar and restaurant, and a small events venue.

Korean investment firm SSH America, LLC reportedly paid $20 million for the project in March 2023, and is investing up to $80 million on the reuse of the mid-1960s building.

Image via Google Maps

The property, located midway between Koreatown and Downtown Los Angeles, is expected to cater heavily to Korean business travelers, which Korean culture, brands, and products expected to feature prominently. Likewise, Shilla will have management staff dispatched from Korea, provide Korean-style breakfasts, and bilingual staff fluent in both Korean and English.

Plans to convert the property at 1543 Olympic into a hotel date to 2016, when Union & Grattan Properties, LLC had sought to open an outpost of Wyndam Hotel Group's Trademark Hotel collection.

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