Downtown LA's Hotel Cecil Nominated As Historic-Cultural Landmark

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Los Angeles city panel will take up a landmark status application Thursday submitted for downtown's Hotel Cecil.

The Cultural Heritage Commission will consider the application submitted on behalf of the 14-story hotel, located at 640 Main Street, which is nearly a century old.

The application states the Beaux Arts style design and noteworthiness of its architect, Loy L. Smith, makes it eligible as a historically and culturally significant site.

Built in 1924, Hotel Cecil was known as an affordable lodging option for traveling businessmen, but in later decades, it gained notoriety for its connections to the various deaths and murders that occurred there or were linked to people who stayed there.

The hotel was home to serial murderer Richard Ramirez, better known as the Night Stalker, in the mid 1980s.

Hotel Cecil made headlines in 2013 when 21-year-old Canadian Elisa Lam disappeared after checking into the hotel.

Elevator surveillance video of Lam acting strangely around the time she disappeared was shared widely on the internet.

Lam was found dead weeks later in the building's rooftop water tank after guests complained about the plumbing and the water appearing discolored.

The hotel caught the attention of Ryan Murphy, creator of the FX show "American Horror Story," who used it along with other downtown Los Angeles sites as the model for Hotel Cortez, the setting for his show's 2015 season.

In recent months, the building has been undergoing renovations by New York City-based real estate company Simon Baron Development, which leases the hotel and is looking to turn it into a trendier destination.

Hotel Cecil now operates under the name Stay on Main.

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