With the housing crisis in full bloom, sometimes it's good to take comfort in ways builders and architects are defying the odds -- such as taking a 1930s Los Angeles theater district art-deco high rise building and turning it into loft condominiums.

Clad in stunning turquoise terra cotta and gold leaf, the Eastern Columbia Outfitting Companies' 13-story art deco retail tower epitomized the height of opulence when it was finished during the Great Depression. Today, this historic landmark dazzles anew, offering buyers a timeless backdrop for urban living.

Eastern Columbia Lofts, situated moments from downtown LA hotspots, such as the Staples Center, the arts district and Disney Hall is in what is referred to as Los Angeles' authentic commercial downtown, where Beaux Arts and Art Deco Buildings are now home to forward-thinking, but nostalgic residents, shops, restaurants and cultural magnets.

The Los Angeles-based Kor Group and its partners, who conceived the details of the building's conversion, made sure to accentuate the structure's classic features while eliminating the old, tired or impractical ones.

Ceiling heights, which vary by floor, were left intact within the steel-reinforced concrete structure, but the spaces created within them were demolished and refitted with 147 airy, light-filled lofts, blending modern fixtures and finishes with vintage period details, including their windows, columns, beams and moldings.

More than half of the lofts were snatched up by young, affluent professionals when sales opened in late 2005, according to the Kor Group, and only a few remain for sale.

The building also houses a sky-high pool deck, a leisure terrace and a fitness studio. A 1732 sq. ft. 2-bedroom, 2 bath loft home in this historic building goes for between $900,000 and a cool million.

Published: February 19, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.