On the northeast corner of 7th and Broadway, the Broadway Exchange Building is undergoing a residential conversion that has seen extensive interior construction but little hint of change on the ground level.

The building, previously known as the Haas Building and the Bank of Italy Building, was thought to have lost all historic facade detailing in a poorly designed 1970s remodel. That saw the replacement of an ornate Beaux Arts exterior with the current unattractive metallic face.

As it turns out, the cosmetic surgery may have only gone skin-deep.

More about the historic find after the jump…

On the northwest corner of 6th and Vermont in Koreatown, a striking adaptive reuse transformation is taking place.

Since 2006, many of us have been watching the redevelopment progress on the 11-story former office structure which is currently cloaked in scaffolding and dark construction netting.

Renderings released last year from VTBS Architects for the residential conversion project known as The Summit show a re-envisioned facade with postmodern glass arrangements and a contemporary color palette — a stark contrast to the empty building that used to be.

Before and after photo comparison, and more info after the split…

The AT&T Center, formerly the SBC Tower and Transamerica Building, and has been undergoing a $35 million remodel by Gensler that has dramatically altered the look of the William Pereira-designed tower.

Scaffolding is being erected around the building’s crown today, marking the onset of the second phase of a renovation program which last year replaced the building’s metallic panel facade and upgraded office space, ground-floor retail and other building amenities.

The high-level space, which affords some of the best cityscape vistas in Downtown, once housed high-end dining establishments including the well-known Windows Restaurant. It is now being turned into premium office suites.

Close-up shot of the crown and a before photo after the jump…

When it comes to cheap food in an exotic setting, the famous Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria at 7th and Broadway can’t be beat.

The world’s largest public cafeteria opened in 1931 in what was formerly the Boos Brothers Cafeteria space, and is designed to resemble a redwood forest complete with trees, animals and a mini waterfall.

The food selection — from strawberry pie to enchiladas to turkey drumsticks and a large Jell-o table — makes Clifton’s one of the most universally-appealing restaurants in Los Angeles. This isn’t fine dining, but it’s a place all Angelenos need to visit at least once a year. It’ll help keep you grounded.

Most people will appreciate the restaurant’s unusual and cliched decor. Also, ask nicely and a kind associate may guide you up to the breathtaking fourth-floor ballroom and dining hall.

The exterior, however, may not be so popular. When arriving from Broadway, the first reaction most people have is “Why is the building covered in that ugly metal thing?” The short answer: Progress. It’s more modern. It’s cleaner. Something like that. Apparently, one of the building’s previous owners added it sometime during the 50s or 60s, although I can’t find any specific information on it.

Since the building was recently purchased by Clifford Clinton’s descendants (after 71 years of rental payments), there must be plans for all-out restoration on the hideous exterior, right? Right?

More information and historic photos after the split…

When several high-profile adaptive reuse projects are transforming a district, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of the smaller developments quietly happening under the radar. But it’s because of these more modest buildings that real neighborhoods are formed. Such is the case with the Judson C. Rives Building.

Pre-adaptive reuse photo of the Judson Rives Building pictured, above, by Martin Schall of you-are-here.com.

Just south of 4th Street on Broadway, the Judson Rives Building has a long history in Downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Charles Aldrich and built in 1906 as the Broadway Central Building, its original use was “fire-proof” office space with basic ground-level retail including shoe stores, a sewing machine shop, piano store and Boos Bros. Cafeteria.

In 1924 the building came to house the New Broadway Theatre, which operated until earlier this decade as the Teatro Broadway.

More information and historic comparison after the jump…

Way back when angelenic was just a baby, I would occasionally run a segment called Downtown Old vs. New, where I compared today’s run-down historic buildings with how they looked decades ago.

Unfortunately, all of my old posts were lost in a hosting/data-loss nightmare (backups are being handled much more professionally now), and I forgot all about the comparison segment.

It wasn’t until this past weekend when angelenic took notice of the Broadway Exchange Building and its modern metallic facade, that we decided to resurrect Downtown Old vs. New as a weekly segment.

Historic and modern comparison after the jump…