New Face of Charlie O's Unveiled

Before the hotel, there was a wood shack on this lot and it was therein that the first automobile was manufactured in Los Angeles, circa 1897. Hang the front end of an Edsel on some of that tan. Have Alexis Smith write some poesy on it, in memory of Neal Cassady.

perhaps the plan is to wait for it to get as dirty as the walls above.

i think you meant 5th street instead of main street.

Wow. I really hope that isn’t the finished facade.

Reminds me a little bit of Pan American Lofts at 3rd and Broadway.

Restoring the 2nd floor windows was a good choice, but the cheap stucco ground floor is unfortunate.

Unlike the work on the Pan American building, the tan color applied to the first level of the Alexandria, at least based on the photo, appears to be an okay complement to the color on the facade above it. Also, what looks like a series of small panels attached to the first level (or at least a wall with horizontal and vertical incisions on it) doesn’t seem to be coated with stucco. However, if that’s the material that was selected, then the wall will look cheap and inappropriate, certainly as seen from up close.

I understand that the mezzanine floor which we see in the above photo is not part and parcel to the original 1905 hotel. Photos of the original interior entry corridor show gigantic stone columns. Does anyone have a photo of the original ground floor exterior?

Once upon a time, the business partner of my grand dad rode his horse into the hotel lobby. Said partner could easily have paid to clean up the carpeting, if there was such. But then he got killed in a car wreck and his partner, grand dad Fred, was left with all of the liabilities, declared bankruptcy and went back to traveling with Barnum and Bailey.

Are these residential hotels getting funded by the city for these facade improvments? I just past by the corner of spring and 6th, it looks the hotel hayward is getting a complete new retail look. Starting to look likes a completely different building, and i think what they are doing definately looks better than the stucco matching facade of the alexandria.

is charlie o’s even re-opening? I have seen some for lease ads for that space that charlie’s used to occupy. Also it would be incredibly nice with spring and 6th and alexandria bringing some upcoming sidewalk cafes.

Does anyone here know how many more lofts are set to open on spring street near the Alexandria?

It would appear that this area of downtown is by far the most dense and very likely to have the most “personality”.

Sally and Eric: I was talking to a bartender at Bar 107 last week and she said she was temporarily working a few days at Bar 107 until Charlie O’s opened up again. I meant to ask her when Charlie O’s would open again, but didn’t get around to it. Apparently the two bars are parent bars or very close. She sounded like Charlie O’s would be opening back up. If you really want to find out go ask around Bar 107. The lease signs could have been for a different unit or maybe Charlie O’s is opening in a different unit.

here’s a pdf scan of a brochure for the alexandria hotel from the 70's that someone at the front desk of the alexandria gave me back in 1991, when i first moved into the penthouse.

the mezzanine floor isn’t original. the ceiling of the mezzanine is the original lobby ceiling. they basically chopped the height of the lobby entrance in half by adding a mezzanine floor over it. the newer and much lower lobby ceiling that you see now added a second ballroom to the mezzanine, which unlike the ballroom facing spring street, has a ridiculously low ceiling (as demonstrated by don garza).

also, charlie o’s and bar 107 have the same owner.

Oh wow, those pictures of the mezzanine ballroom are pretty ridiculous. Such an ornate and grand ceiling looks…weird…so low.

I don’t think you should be able to swing from the chandelier in a ballroom!

Thank you Eric for your response. I have another question for you. I read somewhere that the Sante Fe lofts, Bottle Rock, etc… were being denied. Any update on the city/zoning’s stance on this issue. I would hate for there to be any factors discouraging development in downtown. I just hope Charlie O’s, the Crocker club, the Stock Exchange Club, and the numerous planned restaurants to continue to spring up around downtown and the historic core.

http://blogdowntown.com/2007/09/2861-hearing-to-decide-the-balance-of-a-neighborhood

I drove down Spring St. yesterday and I have to say this street is transforming beautifully. So many construction/renovation projects. It has a great, historic and urban vibe. I can see more cafes, boutiques and, potted flowers and cool NY type bodega making this a destination street for outsiders.