Another One of L.A.'s Ghost Towers Gets a Makeover

I've been intrigued by the buildng located on 6th, between Vermont and New Hampshire, for years. It's been empty for as long as I've driven by it; but an old sign still adorned the side (well, until recently) touting a tenant that probably hadn't been there (or even in existence anywhere) for years: The Colwell Company.

Now, the building is covered in a white skin, which presumably means something is going on underneath. To get all Curbed L.A.-burning questions on ya, does anyone know what's going on there?

It joins other long -emptied skyscrapers (or, in this case, almost-skyscrapers) finally getting an overhaul after years of just sitting there, empty. 1100 Wilshire -- the freaky office-building-turned-condo-with-square-footage issues; the Sunset-Vine Tower -- the building that loves to catch on fire (yeah, that's a good selling point); and downtown's Hall of Justice -- which hasn't seen life since the Northridge quake -- have been at work remaking themselves (although to varied degrees of success).

None have actually made it all the way to reopening, so for now, they remain part of L.A.'s legions of ghost towers.

Meanwhile, here's what I wrote about the ghost towers in 2003, including this passage about the Colwell Co. building:

Located at the corner of 6th and Vermont, the Colwell building is probably best known for the elaborate grafitti that now adorns the roof.

In addition to the typical, huge Andre the Giant "Obey" image, someone has painted large block letters in yellow and black above the top level's windows. It's a very 70s motif, as if the tagger in question had just seen "Saturday Night Fever" before going out on an ambitious grafitti run. On the north-facing side, the letters spell out "SABERVOK." On the south-facing side, it reads, "ZESTEEL."

The building itself is a pretty non-descript, 1950s-era structure about 12 stories in height.

But the real draw is the lettering on the side of the building advertising its one-time inhabitants. "The Colwell Company," the building reads in a 50s-era sans serif font. Underneath that, "Mortgage Bankers" is spelled out in the fancy script (think the "Los Feliz" marquee) popular from the era.

Beyond that, this building is a mystery. It doesn't appear to have been inhabited in quite some time. Grafitti adorns virtually every floor, and there's no upkeep.