The Pacific Electric Building

Originally built in 1905 by Henry Huntington, the Pacific Electric Building at Sixth and Main was considered Los Angeles' first skyscraper. Standing 9 stories, it remained the largest building west of the Mississippi River until the 1950s.  The Pacific Electric was designed to be both a streetcar terminal and office building. From the time of its construction until 1950, the building was the primary downtown LA streetcar terminal. At its peak, The Pacific Electric streetcar line (colloquially, the "Red Cars") ran over 1,000 miles of track in Southern California.  With the rise of the automobile as the preferred method of personal transport, the terminal's rails were removed and the underground concourse was converted into automobile parking. It deteriorated over the next 50 years before being purchased in 2001 by ICO Development. The property reopened four years later as a complex of urban loft style homes. While vacant, the building was host to filming for many Hollywood films, including Forrest Gump, L.A. Confidential, Se7en, and Face/Off.