Los Angeles City Council Approves Zoning Change, Allowing for Demolition of Amoeba Records to Make for High Rise in Hollywood

Amoeba Records in Hollywood is set to be demolished, after Los Angeles City Council meeting voted to approve zoning changes to clear the way for the development of a 26-story complex. Built in 2001, Amoeba Hollywood is the largest record store in Los Angeles, and has long been a cultural center for many in the LA music community.

Although the plans for the building’s demolition have been finalized with this vote, the store’s future became uncertain back in 2015; when Amoeba sold the building to developer GPI Cos. in 2015 for $34 million. Despite this sale, and concern’s about the building’s future, Amoeba representatives have stated interest in finding another space to reside in LA.

“Rest assured, we are NOT closing, but we are now in a position where we may have to change locations in the coming years,” the company stated on its Facebook page back min 2017. “By no means does this mean that Amoeba is leaving LA.”

This new location will also host an accompanying marijuana dispensary, similar to Hi-Fidelity, a dispensary operated by the Amoeba brand that opened in 2018 at their Berkeley location. This is intended to diversify “profit streams in a music retail landscape that has been on a steady decline since the rise of downloadable digital files in the late 1990s,” according to new reports.

Compact disc (CD) sales have been the most impacted by streaming services, and digital downloads throughout the last decade, with sales falling by 18.5% in 2018 compared to the year prior. Although increases in vinyl sales and events such as Record Store Day have helped some of the profit declines, they have not been enough to counteract the falling CD sales.

Located off of the corner of Cahuenga Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood, Amoeba Records is the pre-eminent record store in Los Angeles, serving as an important music hub for many around the area, and the multiple tourists who visit Hollywood each year. In addition to selling vinyl, tapes, CDs and other music merchandise, the store also had a large video selection, in addition to the numerous music guests it has invited to perform.

Check out our previous stories regarding Amoeba performances here.