Commercial Exchange Building

The Commercial Exchange Building, now the Freehand Los Angeles Hotel, is a historic 13-story structure located at the corner of Olive Street and 8th Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Completed in 1924 and designed by the architectural firm Walker and Eisen, it features one of the tallest neon signs in the city. Notably, the building underwent a unique modification in the 1930s when a 10-foot section was removed to widen Olive Street, a project that cost $60,000. Once home to Edgar Rice Burroughs' publishing company and the Owl Drug Company, the building was vacant for two decades before being transformed into a hotel in 2017. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019, making it a significant site for both tourists and researchers interested in Los Angeles' architectural and cultural history.