Superior Oil Company Building

The marble-clad Superior Oil Company Building was constructed in 1952[3] as an office building by the Keck family[4] to serve as the headquarters for Superior Oil Company.[5] Completed in 1955, the Modern architecture 12 story structure was designed by Claud Beelman and builder William Simpson.[6] It was given distinctive marble, granite, and stainless-steel surfaces.[4] According to the Los Angeles Times, it became "one of the area's most significant examples of the postwar modernism style popular in corporate architecture during the 1950s."[4]

In 1963 it became the southern California headquarters of the Bank of California,[7] and for a time the building was called the Bank of California Building.[2] The Bank of California later merged into Union Bank of California,[4] and by 1980, it was officially known as the Union Bank of California building.[8] The building became empty in 1992, after the bank was merged into Union Bank of California.[4]

By 2000, the office building was empty, and local preservation groups had expressed worries that it would be gutted and used as a telecommunications switching station, like other office buildings in the area. In January 2000, it was reported that the building's owner, the Union Bank of California, had sold the building to Columbia Development, "a Manhattan Beach-based hotel investment and development firm." The sale price was not disclosed at the time. With backing from local preservation groups, it was to be the "central city's first major new hotel in nearly a decade."[4] The Standard, part of Andre Balazs properties, had first opened a boutique in Hollywood in 1962.[3] William Gustafson and Mark Neumann of Columbia Development Group, in partnership with Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Partners and Standard Holdings, converted the office building into The Standard Downtown LA, operated by Standard Hotels.

In 2002, The Standard opened the building as a boutique hotel,[9] putting in a rooftop pool with a dance area, German beer garden, and space for DJs and pool parties on the 12th floor.[9] The 2002 renovation was designed by Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Inc.[3] and was constructed by Sam Martel of Taisei Construction. Christy McAvoy of Historical Resources Group was the historic preservation consultant.

In 2003, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places based on its architecture, particularly its moderne style and engineering.[2] Also in 2003, The Downtown Standard Hotel was awarded the Los Angeles Conservancy's preservation award, for "bringing a youthful buzz to a 1955 modernist skyscraper on Flower Street downtown."[10]

In 2009, the operator of the Standard Hotel was charged with dumping pool chemicals into the street below in a violation of federal environmental laws.[11] Standard Hotel pled guilty for the incident in 2010.[12] A shooting resulted in a death outside the hotel lobby in 2015.[13][14] In 2016, an injured bystander to the shootout sued the hotel, alleging insufficient security.[15] In May 2017, the food festival Smorgasburg LA debuted a popup residency at the Standard Hotel.[16][17]

The building was rehabilitated in 2002 by Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Inc.[6][18] It was remade into a hotel with 207 rooms,[5] a rooftop pool and bar,[18] space for DJs and pool parties,[9] a rooftop beer garden,[5][9] a ping pong club, and a 24-hour restaurant[5] and lobby lounge. In 2011, Los Angeles Weekly included the building's rooftop restaurant as number 5 on its "Top 10 Restaurants in Buildings Designed by Significant Los Angeles Architects" list.[18] The pool on the roof has three "water-bed cabanas housed in plastic pods that resemble something out of a 1960s sci-fi movie."[19]