The Toy Warehouse Lofts, converted in 2001, was the first of the derelict downtown commercial buildings to be made into live-work space under the Los Angeles Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. In 1907 grocer R. L. Craig commissioned architects Morgan And Walls to design a new warehouse for his growing business. The firm, noted in succeeding years for several downtown buildings including the Richfield Tower and several theaters, created the three-level structure with understated but elegant brickwork. Craig died before the building became operational and his wife, Nancy Tuttle Craig, took over and built the business into the largest grocery distributor in the city. The operation quickly outgrew the building and Mrs Craig, one of the most successful businesswomen in early Los Angeles, moved to a larger warehouse nearby.
Today, the ground level commercial floor has been home to several creative businesses, including an architectural firm, a tattoo studio and artist collective, and administrative offices for the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
The upper two floors were converted into 20 loft-style condos and are inhabited by a mixture of creative people including artists, musicians, poets, photographers, jewelers, and writers.