A partially demolished Los Angeles landmark with ties to the Jewish community, art house cinema and even Eleanor Roosevelt has hit the market with a $45 million price tag and a big redevelopment opportunity.
Major Properties has listed the former Fairfax Theatre site at Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard, a 28,925-square-foot property entitled for a mixed-use redevelopment.
The site has been unused since 2010, when the theater closed its doors permanently. Demolition work began last year on previous plans for a mixed-use housing project, but work stalled before construction could be completed, leaving the landmarked art deco walls the only piece of the property left standing.
The site is now being marketed as a potential hotel, multifamily or luxury condo project ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity at a main-and-main intersection in the heart of Los Angeles,” Anthony Behar, executive vice president at Major Properties and one of the brokers leading the listing, told CoStar News.
“It’s for someone who’s bullish on Los Angeles and wants to build a legacy,” Behar said, emphasizing the site’s historic relevance and potential for high-impact development.
Any redevelopment would need to keep the facade — designated as a Los Angeles historic-cultural landmark in 2021 — intact with new components built around it. This type of tailored redevelopment has been done before, notably at New York City's Hearst Tower at 300 W. 57th St., where a 46-story ultramodern office tower sprouted out of the site's original seven-story building, with the 1920s facade preserved.
Redeveloping legacy infill properties in Los Angeles isn’t easy. Density upgrades would require navigating the city’s entitlement process, which can add years to development timelines. Even entitled projects face long construction lead times and uncertain financing markets.
A storied site
Opened in 1930 as the Fairfax Theatre, the site has long played a significant role in Los Angeles Jewish and entertainment history. Its art deco facade, designed by Woodbury Pennell, once welcomed High Holiday synagogue services, fundraisers for Jewish organizations and, later, art house films. The building's retail spaces included a kosher market. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at the theater during John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1960.
The corner lot, just under 29,000 square feet, sits at 301-315 N. Fairfax Ave. across from CBS Studios and a block from the high-profile Grove shopping center. It’s also minutes from Beverly Hills and Hollywood.
Existing entitlements allow for 71 multifamily units with permits ready to issue, but Major Properties is also marketing concepts for 146 multifamily units or a mixed-use hotel-residential development.
The seller is a private Los Angeles-based investor who has held the property since 1970 and explored various redevelopment plans over the past decade.
Regency Theatres was the last to operate the Fairfax Theatre before it closed permanently in 2010. In 2012, the Los Angeles City Council approved plans for a 71-unit mixed-use development on the condition that the theater’s historic facade be preserved. Demolition of the interior — including the auditorium and adjoining street-level shops — began in 2024, but the project stalled before construction could be completed.
Behar said the owner is now ready to pass the baton, seeking a buyer who can write the next chapter for the well-known site.
“This isn’t for someone looking for quick cash flow,” he said. “It’s for a developer with a long-term vision who wants to shape a high-profile corner of Los Angeles — and be ready by the time the world comes to town in 2028.”
For the record
Major Properties' Brad Luster and Sam Luster are also representing the owner in the listing.