Residents said they didn’t necessarily believe the old Farmers Insurance building at 4680 Wilshire Blvd. was in danger of being razed, but a group wants to make sure by designating the building a historic-cultural monument.

Neighborhood activists hope to preserve one of the main buildings on the Farmers Insurance campus. (photo by Jonathan Van Dyke)

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously approved an application to look into the process of making the building a historic-cultural monument in December, a designation that would protect the building from destruction or renovations that would change its central character.

Laura Foti Cohen and the Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society submitted the application with help from L.A. Conservancy. Cohen lives in the nearby Brookside neighborhood. Farmers Insurance built the building in the 1930s.

“For 75 years they were part of the neighborhood,” Cohen said. “When they sold last spring [to the CIM Group], it was this potentially open acreage in Brookside. We immediately got on alert — a group of Brookside residents — a few months after they made the purchase.”

The building is on land that spans approximately four blocks and 10 acres.

“[CIM Group has] a lot of developments going across the city and, in fact, across the country,” Cohen said. “They had some issues with other projects that concerned us in regards to demolition and not having a great relationship with neighbors.”

So far, Cohen said, things have been good with CIM Group, so the move for historic-cultural monument status is being made strictly as a precaution.

The neighborhood is actually governed by the Park Mile Specific Plan Area, which is a zoning that doesn’t allow for new buildings taller than three stories, and prohibits restaurants and hotels.

“Nothing new can have those kinds of features,” Cohen said, adding that CIM Group originally wanted to put in a hotel at the location. “The [specific] plan, which has been in effect for 40 years, has never had a variance granted. We just wanted to make sure they knew we would fight any watering down of the specific plan [by applying for the historic designation].”

She said there have been discussions by the CIM Group to build a condominium project on the land, which she would welcome — she and others want to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood.

“It’s a lot of low buildings,” she said. “We really are one of the last [neighborhoods] with density and design that you don’t get in many parts of Los Angeles.”

Residents are only asking for protection of the towering building at 4680 Wilshire Blvd. The remainder of the campus is made up of newer, smaller buildings and parking lots.

“CIM Group is in the process of seeking input from area community groups and stakeholders as it shapes a plan for the building at 4680 Wilshire Blvd., also know as the Farmers Insurance home office building,” CIM Group said in a statement. “The company is not considering any plans that will require exceptions to the Park Mile Specific Plan. CIM believes it is appropriate that the building is being considered for cultural monument designation.”

According to Cohen, who made the presentation to the cultural heritage commission, the building was designed by Walker & Eisen, which built iconic Los Angeles buildings between the 1920s and 1940s, including the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Oviatt Penthouse and many homes in Hancock Park.

In 1948, Claud Beelman upgraded the building. His specialty was Art Deco designs, which the building has since retained, Cohen said.

City staff will visit the building on Jan. 15, and will also meet with various stakeholders to discuss the building, including with CIM Group.

L.A. Conservancy director of advocacy Adrian Scott Fine said a historical designation can often lead to financial incentives for a property and additional city staff help.

“Sometimes when you have that process you can come up with a better product in the end,” he added.

If the commission votes in favor of naming in a historic-cultural monument, then the Los Angeles City Council and its planning and land use committee would still need to also ratify the move. Cohen said she expects the process to take approximately six months.

“It should not be any question in terms of the merit of the building,” Fine added.

Historic-cultural monuments are allowed by the Los Angels Cultural Heritage Ordinance that was enacted in 1962. There are currently more than 1,000 buildings that have the designation.

“It’s really more about an insurance policy because the building is so integral in the neighborhood,” Cohen said. “It’s really the only architecturally significant office building there is here. We were just concerned that it would be stripped bare and turned into a glass tower. I don’t know if that would ever happen, but why not make sure that can’t happen?”