The beautiful historic Douglas Building at 3rd and Spring will now be home to Church & State’s new contemporary French restaurant, “Spring”
One of the most well-regarded restaurants in Downtown LA (besides Bottega Louie) is the French bistro Church & State located in the burgeoning Arts District. Since opening in 2008, Church & State has become one of the best culinary success stories that has helped center Downtown LA on the foodie map (LA Times food critic, Irene Virbila, gave it an impressive 3 out of 4 stars). The location near 7th and Mateo St at the Biscuit Lofts, once completely isolated and unknown to the rest of the world, is now frequented continuously by diners. And now, the founders of Church & State are planning to open up another French concept called “Spring” at the historic Douglas Building at 3rd and Spring.
I spoke to the co-founder and general manager of Church & State, Yassmin Sarmadi, who provided more exciting details about Spring, which will occupy the majority of the ground floor space at the beautiful Douglas Building built in 1898. Spring has leased out about 15,000 square feet and will be built out in two phases.
The first phase of the restaurant will consist of 7,000 square feet, and will include the shuttered Origami Bistro & Bar at the corner as well as the interior atrium area within the Douglas Building. The second and final phase will take over the area that was once the bakery and Lot 44 cafe space that fronts Spring Street.
According to Sarmadi, the food at Spring will be “contemporary French cuisine, not the traditional French bistro at Church & State. Stylistically, more Southern and Mediterranean French. Always seasonal, very market driven.” The chef has not been announced yet.
The lease was signed in June 2012, construction should begin within the next few months, and Spring will hopefully open by next summer if all goes well.
Seems like French is “In”: Parish is opening soon at the Sping & Main triangle intersection.
French is super trendy! There was Perch a year ago. Then Industriel opened a few months ago. There’s also the new French place taking form across the street from Bottega Louie, and Towne over at 9th and Flower looks like it should be open any minute now if it’s not open already. As a fan of French food, I am not complaining. I will happily frequent all of these establishments!
it’s too bad that the buildings on the other two corners of that intersection are so pedestrian-unfriendly. there’s probably not much hope for the ronald reagan building, but i wonder if the offices on the ground floor of the other corner could eventually be transformed into street-friendly retail.
Good luck to them! I love Church and State, hopefully they will be able to survive the CURSE of The Douglas Building. Nothing has ever succeeded in their retail since it opened over 10 years ago. :P
That Ronald Reagan building is an embarrassment to the former president (this coming from a Democrat). I know it is a state office building but come on. The landscaping is horrific, the workers there are unfriendly and there is no retail. I am sure “Spring” will do well however because Church and State is an amazing restaurant. Plus, the Douglas building is a beauty! Perhaps this is a start for to create some streetlife at 3rd and Spring.
Jim, the other corner has mostly state offices on the upper floors – but it is a privately owned building. And if Jerry Brown was honest when he said he wants to get out cities revitalized and our tax base increased – he could move the offices that are on the ground floor into other spaces and then the private owner could lease to spaces as storefronts.
the washington building is actually for sale for an undisclosed price, if the loopnet listing is current. anyone have a few million dollars laying around that they don’t otherwise need?
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17565374/311-South-Spring-Street-Los-Angeles-CA/
This is GREAT news!
There’s no CURSE, just poorly run establishments. The coffee shop was a joke, the bakery was lame, and the sushi at origami was low quality. Good riddance. Love live spring. Show some support JGE.
So excited! Douglas Bldg needs this badly – such a great building, such an underachieving corner. It’s so unfair about those state offices occupying the ground floor of the adj buildings, I’m sure Hal or Brady have tried, but is there anything we can do?
I’m so excited about SPRING taking this beautiful corner. When The Douglas opened 7 years ago in 2005 we were all so excited when we purchased our units that we’d have a vibrant exciting ground floor scene. We tried to support the businesses that opened, but you can only be disappointed so many times before you quit. They came and went as new places continued to open all over downtown in an economic downturn. I am thrilled that somebody with a name and a following will soon attract business. The ugly surface lots and parking garages with no ground floor space on this block have prevented pedestrian traffic between the Civic Center and the Old Bank District, which can be solved with an actual “destination” like Church & State has offered at The Biscuit Company. I agree that these government buildings should be leasing out their ground floor spaces to businesses that open to the sidewalk. It’s a hard stretch from 2nd to 4th with nothing to attract.
Now – hopefully SPRING will do it right and replace the windows with roll-up or fold-back doors and welcome the outside in!!!
Thanks for the update Brigham.
The original owners of Origami opened here as their second location, the first being out in Santa Clarita, would you believe.
This place should do well, and if promoted properly, it might even offer opportunities for patrons of WDCH and the Music Center to take Angel’s flight to Cal Plaza, or at least the rear escalator from 4th & Hill , then cross the plaza, and attend a performance. If brunch/lunch were offered, would be great for the matinee crowd, weather permitting.
Hopefully SPRING will include some imaginative vegetarian and vegan entrees for those of us who make do in meatcentric Downtown. NN
I definitely agree. There aren’t a ton of vegetarian options after 6pm downtown, and even less at a nicer place.
Thank you NN for mentioning vegetarian. I don’t want to see rabbit livers or lamb tongues on the menu. P-L-E-A-S-E No!
This is excellent news! The Douglas building is a gem, and with “Spring” (cool name) moving in, the new Spring St. park a block away at 4th and Spring, and (eventually) the downtown connector coming to 2nd and Spring, this block is ripe with potential. Yassmin Sarmadi has a great restaurant with Church and State, and is smart to capitalize on the potential here. “Contemporary french cuisine” with seasonal menus, is a great fit for the health- conscious downtown/LA market, – a nice pivot from the often heavy “traditional” french bistro fare. I have no doubt “Spring” will be a great success too.
Wow!! This is amazing!! Can’t wait!!
I can’t believe they’re taking up the entire ground floor of the Douglas building – great space!!