The iconic Norms coffee shop on La Cienega has been on our minds ever since the chain and its properties were sold separately late last year. The Los Angeles Conservancy leapt into action to landmark the Beverly Grove site in December. That action, and notice that a demolition permit had already been granted, generated an avalanche of national news coverage and booming interest on social media, more than they have with any other preservation issue in the history of the organization. Although the Cultural Heritage Commission will decide if the Armet & Davis – designed restaurant should receive monument status at a meeting on March 19, what they decide will have no effect on how the owners use the building. The Rialto Theater downtown, for example, has landmark status (it’s HCM #472) and it now houses an Urban Outfitters.

Norms isn’t a moldering movie house in the age of Netflix. Norms is buzzing and vital and packed with customers 24 hours a day. The low prices, high design, and central location make this a place where different classes mingle in a city increasingly segregated by wealth inequality. “We cut across everything,” says Norms president Mike Colonna of the restaurant’s clientele. “We have the blue collar workers, white collar workers with ties getting a quick lunch, ethnic diversity at every table. We get late night millennials, and our base of baby boomers. We’re kind of retro cool and we think the googie architecture is a big part of the brand.”

Developer Jason Illoulian of Faring Capital is the new owner of the land under the restaurant and its 43 parking spaces and until now, he’s kept his vision for the property under wraps, fueling speculation about what might happen to the beloved restaurant.

This week he told me his plan: To build a “community of shops” where the parking lot now stands. He envisions renting to tenants similar to those on Abbot Kinney in Venice or in the Brentwood Country Mart. “We’re trying to curate the experience,” he says. “We want it to feel authentic.”