Merchant's National Bank Building

Lloyd's Bank
The building in 2008
Merchant's National Bank Building is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Merchant's National Bank Building
Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location548 S. Spring Street and 137 West 6th Street, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°02′45″N 118°15′03″W / 34.04585°N 118.25075°W / 34.04585; -118.25075
Built1913
ArchitectWilliam Curlett & Son
Architectural styleCommercial Style/Beaux Arts
Part ofSpring Street Financial District (ID79000489)
Designated CPAugust 10, 1979

Merchant's National Bank Building, also known as Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, Lloyd's Bank, SB Lofts, and Marley Lofts, is a historic building located at 548 S. Spring Street and 137 West 6th Street, on the corner of 6th and Spring, in downtown Los Angeles, California. It is a contributing property in the National Register of Historic Places-listed Spring Street Financial District.

History

Merchant's National Bank Building was designed by William Curlett & Son and built in 1913. The building housed a bank that was robbed in 1917. Other tenants over the years include the architecture film Lunden, Hayward & O'Connor, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and Portland Cement Association.

In 1979, the Spring Street Financial District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with Lloyd's Bank listed as a contributing property in the district.

The building was converted to residential in 2007. It contains 184 units. In 2022, the building was one of five downtown Los Angeles residential buildings bought by Laguna Point Properties for $402 million ($442 million in 2025). All five buildings were previously owned by DTLA Management.

Architecture and design

Merchant's National Bank Building is a twelve-story fireproof steel-reinforced concrete and brick building faced with terra cotta, pressed brick, and stone. In United States Department of the Interior's Spring Street Historic District listing, this building is described as having a Commercial Style design, while the department's listing for the nearby Board of Trade Building mentions that this building has a Beaux Arts with Neo-classical detailing. Architecture historian Robert Winter also describes this building's design as Beaux Arts.

The building's ground floor exterior features multiple entrance doors with proto-ionic columns between them and cornice above. The building also features Corinthian columns. The columns symmetrically divide the ground floor; additional two-story columns are located along the upper floors.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Michelson, Alan. "Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, Headquarters Building #4, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA (1915)". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. University of Washington. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Spring Street Financial District". National Park Service. August 10, 1979.
  3. ↑ "Spring Street". TESSA. Los Angeles Public Library. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Marley Lofts". downtownla.com. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Finger Prints Give L.A. Robbert Clew". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 42, no. 166. May 14, 1917 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ↑ "Lunden v. County of Los Angeles (1965)". District Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 2, California. April 26, 1965 – via FindLaw.
  7. ↑ "Approval of an Operational Agreement Between the Chief Executive Office and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority" (PDF). County of Los Angeles. August 15, 2017. p. 11.
  8. ↑ "Advertisement: An Extra Gasoline Tax of from 6 to 20 Cents Per Gallon". San Pedro News Pilot. Vol. 12, no. 120. February 18, 1925 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. ↑ Farr, Isabella (September 26, 2022). "Laguna Point Properties sues over $400M DTLA deal". The Real Deal.
  10. 1 2 Sitton, Tom (2008). "GC 1323 - Historic Sites Surveys" (PDF). Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
  11. 1 2 "Board of Trade Building". National Park Service. December 11, 2007. p. 9.
  12. ↑ Winter, Robert (2009). An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles. Gibbs Smith. p. 252-253. ISBN 978-1-4236-0893-6.
  13. ↑ "Early Los Angeles Historical Buildings (1900 - 1925)". Water and Power Associates. p. 2. Retrieved October 26, 2026.