Remington Steele: Laura Holt's Loft

The 1980s TV show Remington Steele was quite ahead of its time in more than one way. Years before the boom in the Downtown Los Angeles loft market, Laura Holt (played by the very talented Stephanie Zimbalist) was a resident of the area's Arts District. It took me quite a while to figure out where exactly the buildings used in the show were located, mainly because I'm not all that familiar with this particular corner of the downtown area.
Well, as it turns out producers of the show had to use two different locations because the building that was used in the second season was no longer available for filming.

The building that was used initially is called the Joannes Bros. Company Building and is located at the corner of East Traction Ave and South Hewitt St (800 E. Traction Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90013).


View Larger Map


The building has changed very little over the years (almost 30 years!), except for the palm trees out front. This website has a nice clean shot of the building: You-are-here.com

The second building that was used for exterior shots of Laura's apartment is located just about a block north of the building above at 923 E 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Yes, one block north but in a different zip code).


View Larger Map

This brick building looks virtually the same, except for a few signs that have been added. It also houses a popular cafe called Metropol. You can actually have a coffee at Laura's old place.

In case you were wondering, all interior shots were filmed on a sound stage is Hollywood.

About the area:
At the time the show was filmed, this neighborhood would have been considered iffy at best and consisted mostly of abandoned warehouses and dilapidated buildings. Over the last couple of years, however, the area has seen quite a bit of residential development and is now home to many popular restaurants. This location is within walking distance of the Metro Gold Line Little Tokyo/Arts District station and is close to many downtown attractions. I highly recommend stopping by Union Station, which has been restored beautifully and, incidentally, was also featured on a 4th season Remington Steele episode.