In late 2005, Emerald Financial LLC purchased 1401 South Coast Highway — home to the landmark Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room — for $13 million.
Emerald Financial is owned by Steven Udvar-Hazy, a Beverly Hills multibillionaire who is ranked 83rd on Forbes’ list of wealthiest Americans. Soon after the purchase, the Los Angeles Times reported that Emerald planned to raze the historic building with a small boutique hotel and restaurant.
Because of the sale, the Boom Boom Room was slated to close as early as Labor Day 2006. But in August — after a three-month, high-publicity campaign by the volunteers of Save the Boom — Udvar-Hazy extended the lease of the Boom Boom Room through September 2007. “It’s like Christmas in August,” Save the Boom founder Fred Karger told the Los Angeles Times.
The lease extension is only a temporary reprieve, however, and Save the Boom is continuing its fight. Udvar-Hazy reportedly still plans to eventually bulldoze the historic building.