The landmark Clifton's building in downtown Los Angeles has quietly come back to life, open Thursdays through Sunday under new operators who are not even allowed to call it Clifton's anymore. Neil Biondich and Alex McCullough are running the space instead as Sanctuary, with plans that stretch from a daily live-action role-playing game to two restaurants and a vision of turning the century-old building into, as one of them puts it, an international destination.
Biondich and McCullough do not have access to the Clifton's name and are attempting to rebrand the building as Sanctuary instead, according to the Los Angeles Times. The paper reports the operators hope to open the first of two planned restaurants in early 2027, with a second, more upscale restaurant targeted for late 2027. In the meantime, a daily live-action role-playing game remains a future vision for the venue, part of a broader effort to activate the building's five stories with events.
A Restaurant By Day, a Monster Den By Night
Biondich's plan calls for the venue to operate as a restaurant during the day and early evening before it “wakes up” at night with actors in monster garb roaming a bar scene, the Times reports. He says the building's existing character will remain intact even as fantasy-themed decor adds an immersive layer on top of it. On operating days, the menu stays limited, with offerings including a burger and fish tacos, while the operators intend to keep up the comedy, magic and karaoke events that have long been part of the space's identity.
Biondich cites Meow Wolf, the art collective turned experiential company, as an inspiration for Sanctuary, though he says the new venue would follow a more linear narrative than Meow Wolf's famously open-ended installations, per the same account. He is also developing an app featuring augmented-reality monsters. He compares his vision for the live-action role-playing game to a blend of Dungeons & Dragons and Pokémon Go, with plans for players to earn rewards like discounted food or drinks as they explore. “Our goal is to make this an international destination,” Biondich told the Times.
Who Actually Owns the Clifton's Name
The naming fight traces back to Andrew Meieran, who bought the Broadway location in 2010 and poured more than $14 million into renovating it. He sold the renovated building to Robhana Group, a real estate investment firm, but retained the Clifton's name and its intellectual property, the Times reports. Meieran has said he is working with the building's current owners to help Clifton's continue thriving and has not ruled out reviving the Clifton's brand elsewhere, describing the operation as a hybrid venue meant to serve varied audiences and purposes.
The building itself has operated for more than ninety years, though accounts differ on exactly when it began: the Times describes it as dating to 1935, while Sanctuary DTLA's own website says the space has been many things since 1932, including a cafeteria and a cabinet of curiosities. The operators plan events across the building's five floors.
A Downtown Still Finding Its Footing
The reopening lands at a tense moment for downtown Los Angeles, which has struggled since the pandemic with many office workers failing to return and a significant number of businesses leaving the neighborhood, according to the Times. That slump isn't new: a 2022 CoStar report found downtown had struggled to woo workers back since the start of the pandemic, hurting its retail market. Clifton's itself wasn't spared the fallout; an earlier Times report from April described repeated vandalism that damaged the building's windows, costing Meieran more than $30,000 per replacement while insurance premiums climbed by as much as 600%.
Still, there are signs of movement nearby. Cole's, another downtown institution, is set to reopen in the coming weeks, the Times notes, suggesting at least some appetite for betting on the neighborhood's historic haunts. Clifton's own path hasn't been a straight line either — in 2024, the space planned a reopening built around an immersive circus-and-cabaret performance in its Cathedral Grove, complete with acrobats performing aerial stunts, according to Eater Los Angeles. Robhana Group bought the renovated building from Meieran for $8.6 million in 2022, as reported by Los Angeles Magazine.
For now, Sanctuary is operating on a scaled-back schedule while its bigger ambitions remain in progress. Whether the rebrand sticks, or whether Meieran eventually revives the Clifton's name somewhere else, remains an open question — but inside the Broadway building, the magic shows, karaoke and late-night monsters are already back.
