On the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue stands the Samsung tower, a 12-story building originally built around 1929. The Art Deco office building marks Central Los Angeles’ skyline, and is home to restaurants, including Crepe Kitchen and Luna Park, as well as a car title loaning company, all on the first floor. Higher floors house office space rented to various businesses ranging from entertainment to fitness.

Advertising space is apparently available on top of the building at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. (photo by Luis Rivas)

But prior to being known for its brightly-lit white-on-blue Samsung logo, the building was known as the Asahi building — bearing the Japanese beer company’s logo. Prior still, the building was known as the Mutual of Omaha tower. Originally, the building was named the E. Clem Wilson Building, and is still referred to as such by conservancy advocates and researchers.

The building can be seen in the 1950s television series, “The Adventures of Superman,” as home to the newspaper, The Daily Planet.

The building, currently owned by Gateway Triangle Development, is named after the real estate investor who commissioned the construction of the building, designed by the Los Angeles-based Meyer & Holler architecture firm, the same company that designed the Grauman’s Chinese and Egyptian Theatres. During its early years, the building was the tallest on the Miracle Mile.

But recently the sign is once again bare — save for the dark-blue outline where it once read, “Samsung”.

According to Bruce “Hollywood” D-vandi, the small-statured, friendly manager of the iconic building for more than 25 years, Samsung simply chose not to renew their lease.

“Samsung doesn’t lease an office space. They just did the advertising on the building,” he said.

Although the building is not individually designated, it is eligible for the National Register, according to Tiffany Narváez, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Rachil and Alex Yukhtman, Ukrainian immigrants and long-time Angelenos, are co-owners of Sycamore Tailors, a small tailoring shop on the first floor of the building. They’ve been there for 37 years and remember all the brand-name changes of the building’s tower. After nearly 40 years since their shop opened its doors, the Yukhtmans have decided on close shop.

“After 37 years, we’ve decided that that was enough,” Alex Yukhtman said.

Like the Yukhtmans and their tailoring shop, the E. Clem Wilson Building represents a cultural and historical snapshot of the legacy of the Miracle Mile. Real estate developer A. W. Ross was the leading force in establishing that stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in 1921. The name came from a conversation between Ross and a friend in 1928 who had commented on how much enthusiasm Ross had expressed about Wilshire Boulevard, making it sound like it was a “miracle mile.”

But, again, the Miracle Mile skyline has been altered.

According to the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety chief inspector Luke Zamperini, the way the sign was altered would not have required a permit.

“Altering individual letters on an outdoor sign does not require a permit. The blue structure is part of the sign, it appears, so they didn’t require a permit,” Zamperini said. “It’s a building identification sign so anytime they put a new sign up, they have to get a permit. If they put another company’s sign on the building, they have to apply for another permit.”

D-vandi couldn’t speak on any immediate plans as to what will next occupy the building’s historic tower.