That explains things,
GW.
Before we leave the 400 block of S San Pedro Street, have we ever discussed the Westinghouse Building's next door neighbor?
GSV
It's also a very attractive building. The doors are numbered 434 and 438, although it says 442 with an arrow pointing right at the far right side. There's no need for a light well in this building because it's "L"-shaped.
Google Maps
This appears to be the 1926 building permit. It's for a six-story stores/factory building at 442 S San Pedro Street. The permit for the foundations was issued about a month before.
Online Building Records
434 S San Pedro Street has been home to various public services over the years. Here's a selection:
1934 County Welfare Department
1936 Division of Indigent Relief
1942 Department of Public Assistance
1956 County of Los Angeles Air Pollution Control
I found Elias Katz Shoe Factories at 442 S San Pedro Street between 1928 and 1932, but not a lot else.
Today, the building is home to the Downtown Women's Center. There's a 2010 article about the opening of the facility at
ladowntownnews.com. At one point the article describes the building as a
"33-year-old industrial structure [which] has been converted into a facility with 71 permanent supportive housing units and several offices and rooms to support the center’s suite of social services." I'm not sure where the "33-year-old" age comes from. The article also says this:
The new Downtown Women’s Center is in a former shoe factory once known as the Renaissance Building. The exterior of the six-story, Gothic Revival edifice has been restored to its original standards.
Originally designed by William Douglas Lee, the building was abandoned before the city purchased it, then sold it to the DWC for $1.
At least we now know that it is/was the Renaissance Building.