The California State Historical Resources Commission voted this week to nominate the Bing Crosby Building in West Hollywood for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The vote at the commission’s May 17 meeting was unanimous among the seven members present, reported WEHOville.com:
“From 1936 to 1977 the building, which is at 9026 Sunset Blvd., was the headquarters for businesses operated by Bing Crosby, one of the 20th century’s most popular singers and movie stars.
During that time, two groundbreaking technologies were developed in the building. In the late 1940s, engineers employed by Crosby perfected audiotape recording for commercial use. A few years later they invented a game-changing technology: videotape recording. These innovations revolutionized the music, film and broadcasting industries in the latter half of the century,” reported WEHOville.com
The City of West Hollywood Commercial Historic Resources Survey conducted in 2016 noted the importance of the building, “This was a rare “trifecta” among the dozens of buildings that were evaluated for the report,” reported WEHOville.com.
The nomination comes as current property owner Charles Company, a real-estate development firm, proposed to build a 19-story hotel on the 1.3 acre site. In a rendering of the proposed hotel project, published by WEHOville in October, the Crosby Building is shown intact, even if apparently stripped of some original ornamental details, according to WEHOville.com.
