This grand building is the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The photographer was standing on the corner of 5^th and Olive in 1943, when the world was fighting WWII. This was a time when Los Angeles was flooded with servicemen en route to and from the Pacific. The hotel overlooks Pershing Square, which was the center of L.A. at the time. The hotel made mini dormitories out of some of their hotel rooms so that servicemen on shore leave had a place to sleep. On the other side of those three domed windows on right was the Biltmore Coffee Shop, which at its wartime peak served 5,000 people per day. I sure hope those waitresses had comfy shoes.

The same view in February 2019. The last time I walked past the Biltmore, the coffee shop on the corner was a Singaporean restaurant.