Place
B’nai B’rith Lodge (Demolished)
Lost
In 2024, Catholic Charities demolished the B’nai B’rith Lodge, a site important to both Jewish heritage and the Labor Movement, with no apparent replacement project.
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Overview
The B’nai B’rith Lodge building (1924) in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood at 846 Union Street, once a vibrant center for Jewish and labor community activities, has been demolished by owner Catholic Charities with no plans for a new project. The Conservancy is continuing to pursue accountability through the City appeals process to shed light on what happened here and ensure it never occurs again.
B’nai B’rith was built as a center for Jewish social and cultural gatherings, later serving as a lodge for the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE), and then as an AFL Teamsters Hall.
Despite strong community opposition and from the Conservancy, the City of Los Angeles approved a settlement deal in March without public discussion. The City violated policies and demolition should not have been approved until an environmental impact report was prepared to assess impacts, mitigation, and alternatives. We continue to ask why the City is complicit in demolishing a large historic building that otherwise could be repurposed for housing or another community-serving use in an under-resourced neighborhood in great need.
UPDATE
Citing a “lack of public transparency,” accountability, and a painful, troubling breakdown in City process, last week commissioners for the Central L.A. Area Planning Commission (APC) deliberated on the Conservancy’s latest appeal for the B’nai B’rith Lodge issue. Following two hours of discussion and a rebuttal by the Conservancy and property owner Catholic Charities, the APC ultimately and reluctantly denied our appeal as their jurisdiction was constrained by the City Attorney to consider only a narrow scope of this ongoing issue. By design, the City is not allowing the Conservancy and public to consider the core issues that drove this decision to grant demolition, and the City’s failure to uphold its own policies or adhere to required California environmental review.
APC Commissioner Derek Powell remarked, “What bothers me most is the transparency…and I think this warrants a larger conversation around how do you prevent a rinse and repeat action. Are we going to have more closed door settlements where the City Council would have to approve more of these transactions between the City and the owner here without having the public’s voice and opinion?” This goes directly to why we have appealed and our concern about setting precedent, and the danger this poises to other historic buildings citywide.
The City of Los Angeles, in granting a deal to Catholic Charities, directed City Planning to disregard City policy, resulting in the unnecessary loss of an irreplaceable historic building that could have otherwise been repurposed. As strongly and unanimously recommended by the APC, the Conservancy will continue to tell the story of B’nai B’rith Lodge and share what happened to advocate for stronger protocols and tools to prevent this from occurring again. Thank you to all the supporters who spoke in favor of preservation and a need for a transparent public process!
Why Demolition?
Despite efforts by the Conservancy to delay or stop demolition of the B’nai B’rith Lodge building, the City of Los Angeles condoned the demolition of this historically significant building.
In March 2024 the City of Los Angeles entered into a private settlement agreement (to date, the City is not sharing this with the public) with Catholic Charities, allowing them to demolish B’nai B’rith Lodge. This was the result of Catholic Charities suing the City (846 S. Union Avenue Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Superior Case No. 23STCP00231, Council File: 23-1407). The City previously said Catholic Charities would need to comply with environmental review before a demolition permit could be issued. To date, the City has refused to publicly share the details contained within their settlement agreement with owner Catholic Charities.
Legally, because the Westlake Redevelopment Plan that controls development in the Westlake area has determined the B’nai B’rith Lodge is a historic resource, the City should not have approved demolition until it prepared an environmental impact report to assess impacts and mitigation, and consideration of alternatives. Instead, none of this is occurred once the City entered into a settlement agreement with Catholic Charities. According to Catholic Charities, nothing is planned for the site, despite previously announcing a proposed project.
About This Place
About This Place
B’nai B’rith Lodge was designed by Samuel Tilden Norton in the Beaux Art style and built between 1923 and 1924. Along with B’nai B’rith, Norton was known for designing other significant buildings in Los Angeles, including Temple Sinai/Welsh Presbyterian Church, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and Los Angeles Theater.
The Lodge was the home for the Los Angeles Lodge No. 487 until 1941 when the Los Angeles Joint Council of Teamsters #42 bought and used the building as their local headquarters. During their occupation of the building between 1941 and 1978, the Teamsters organized labor activities, including negotiating contracts and planning lectures, boycotts, strikes, and civil rights actions.
In 2009, the Westlake Recovery Redevelopment Area Intensive Survey determined the B’nai B’rith Lodge eligible for the California Register. In 2016, SurveyLA’s Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement on Jewish history identified the building as a potential landmark considering its connection to Los Angeles’ Jewish community.
In 2024, the B’nai B’rith Lodge was demolished by Catholic Charities with no replacement project.
Our Position
Demolition began on April 22, 2024, primarily on an annex to the historic B’nai B’rith Lodge. Even this is being done wrong, as Catholic Charities did not comply with the terms in which demolition is to occur.
We at the Conservancy work hard to find win-win outcomes for even the most challenging of circumstances. This is especially hard to do when the City Attorney’s office is not following its own rules and enabling Catholic Charities to demolish a significant historic building.
The Conservancy has filed not one but five appeals with the City to intervene in the demolition of this 1924 historic building, significant both architecturally and for its Jewish and labor movement heritage.
