LA’S THE SMELL RECEIVES DEMOLITION NOTICE
Southern California Public Radio’s KPCC and LAist report that the Los Angeles DIY arts venue the Smell received a building demolition notice from the city last Friday. The owner of the venue, Jim Smith, says the building housing the venue, and all of the businesses on the rest of the west side of Main Street between Second and Third Streets in Downtown LA, received the notice. Located at 247 S. Main Street, the all-ages and alcohol-free club—which has a long-standing policy of charging only $5 for its events—has been a mainstay of the arts in the city since 1998 and plays host to a major intersection of local independent bands, touring acts, and many artists associated with the city.
Smith told KPCC, “It was a surprise . . . There’s been some signs that something is maybe in the works. Our building was sold a year ago to L&R and they bought the building down the block. I wasn’t aware until last night they also bought the Downtown Independent, our neighbor to the south.” The L&R Group of Companies operates various parking facilities in the city and, according to Smith, now owns all of the land including and immediately surrounding the Smell. In April or May of 2015, L&R became the venue’s new landlord and “raised the rent, like within a month or two. That’s been a little bit of a struggle because they really jacked it up. It went from $2,375 to $4,000 overnight, so almost a 70 percent increase right there,” said Smith. There are already several parking lots immediately surrounding the club.
Though the club abuts the city’s Skid Row—a notorious concentration of the homeless crisis in Los Angeles—restaurants, hotels, and other high-end developments have sprouted up or are currently in the works for the area. Despite the changes around them, Smith noted, “We’d love to stay in downtown . . . The direction downtown is going, that might be impossible, but it’s definitely something we’ll explore. And if it can’t be in downtown, we’ll find another location and make our home there.” LAist reported that due to the Memorial Day holiday, “no information regarding the notice or plans for demolition has been made available yet, and won’t be available until at least Tuesday, as all governmental offices are closed for the Memorial Day weekend.”
