Downtown LA hotel tax-delinquent as $5M conversion permit filed

A commercial parcel at 345 E 1st St in downtown Los Angeles, in the Little Tokyo and Arts District corridor, has carried a tax-delinquent status since 2025, according to LA County Assessor records. At the same time, its owner has filed a $5 million permit to convert hotel guest rooms into a shared housing facility. Both filings sit on the same parcel, Assessor Identification Number 5161012010, and point in opposite financial directions: one shows the property behind on its taxes, the other shows money being committed to rework it for a new use.

Why it matters

Tax-defaulted status alone does not mean a sale is coming. Under county rules, continued non-payment can eventually lead to a tax sale only after five years of sustained delinquency, and the Assessor’s flag by itself does not establish how close this parcel is to that point. What the record does show is a parcel in enough financial strain to fall behind on taxes while its owner pursues a $5 million buildout, the kind of repositioning bet developers make when they see more value in a building’s next use than its current one. Similar pairings of tax default and active permit activity have turned up elsewhere downtown this month, including a City West parcel carrying its own 2024 tax default alongside an active permit. More at /markets/los-angeles/.

The numbers

The Assessor’s record lists AIN 5161012010 as Commercial use, defaulted in 2025. LADBS permit 26016-10001-13609, filed as a supplement to permit 26016-10000-13609, declares $5,000,000 in construction valuation and remains submitted, not yet issued. The LA County Treasurer-Tax Collector holds the actual delinquent dollar amount for this parcel; that figure is not yet published through the county’s public auction and balance-due tools as of this writing.

What’s next

The permit’s path through LADBS plumbing, fire-life-safety and accessibility review will determine whether the hotel-to-shared-housing conversion moves forward on the declared timeline. Separately, the parcel’s tax status bears watching: continued non-payment keeps the five-year clock toward eligibility for a county tax sale running. No owner is named here; the Assessor’s public record does not establish an individual owner’s identity for this reporting.