Demolition has begun to transform the historic Venice Post Office into production offices and a screening room for the new owner, producer Joel Silver.
Michael King of Studio of Architecture notes via The Venice Stakeholders Association:
“They do not technically have a permit to demolish the stairs and handicap access ramp. Unfortunately, they were issued an ‘early start demolish’ permit (attached). These permits are the curse of historic preservationists.”
A request has been sent to Councilman Rosendahl’s office to find out what is going on … will update when we get the Councilman’s response.
Update: Mike Bonin at Councilman Rosendahl’s office says: “We have alerted LADBS and asked them to send an inspector out right away and report back”.
Update 2: from Building & Safety:
Our Inspector stopped the job since the work done was not covered under the active permits. The contractor jumped the gun on work that is currently in plan check for review. According to the permittee, the work proposed replaces current ramps and stairs that are not disabled access compliant. We will monitor the job closely to make sure that only permitted work is preformed.
[…] And one final update: The historic post office in Venice, California, was finally transferred to private hands on July 27, after a sixteen-month fight by the community. It's going to be turned into the office of film producer Joel Silver (Mad Max, Die Hard). They've already started gutting the interior and doing demolition work on the entranceway and handicap ramp, but there are questions about whether the new owner actually has title and proper permits. […]