Hotel Per La (Giannini Place)
The history
A.P. Giannini built his Bank of Italy into the biggest bank in America by lending to immigrants and small depositors other banks turned away — it became Bank of America in 1930. This was its Los Angeles headquarters: twelve stories at 7th and Olive, Morgan, Walls & Clements' Neoclassical design, Doric columns and terra cotta, completed 1922 and dedicated 1923. The old banking hall's 22-foot coffered ceiling is still there. It stood empty for years before reopening in 2022 as Hotel Per La — the name, Italian for "for the," a nod to Giannini's original mission.
In brief
A 12-story Neoclassical tower at 7th and Olive in Downtown Los Angeles, designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements and completed in 1922, dedicated in 1923, as the Los Angeles headquarters of A.P. Giannini's Bank of Italy — the immigrant-focused bank that grew into Bank of America. Looming Doric columns and a terra cotta facade front a banking hall with a 22-foot coffered ceiling. The building stood empty for years before reopening in 2022 as Hotel Per La, whose name ("for the") nods to Giannini's original mission of banking for people the big banks turned away.
Read more →The archival photograph
