LA City Council Delays Vote to Designate Taix Restaurant as an Historic Monument
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The struggle over the future of Taix Echo Park’s enduring old-school French restaurant and bar reached a new stage this week. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council’s delayed a vote to add the restaurant to the city’s historic-cultural monuments program. What’s at stake is the demolishment of the nearly 60-year-old building and replacing it with a brand new retail and residential structure.
The Eastsider reports that Taix’s landmark nomination was recently modified to preserve two outdoor signs and the interior’s wooden bar top. That doesn’t include the actual building, which owner Mike Taix sold to a developer three years ago. The former owner does not want the landmark status. It’s unclear what councilmember Mitch O’Farrell hopes to accomplish by delaying the vote until June 2.
With an HCM list designation, city law allows the commission to formally object to the issuance of a demolition permit, delaying the demolition for up to 180 days, plus another possible 180-day extension, if approved by the City Council, to allow for time to preserve the monument, according to the City Planning Department.
In 2019, Holland Partner Group announced it had purchased the building, and documents submitted to the commission show the future plans for the site, where the developer wants to erect a six-story, mixed-use building that would keep portions of the original Taix built into the structure.
The venerable French eatery plans downsize from its current 18,000-square-foot space to 6,000-square-feet, according to commission documents. The original bar and ceilings would be retained, but the seating style would be updated, and the banquet room, which Taix said isn t used much anymore, would be eliminated.