Charles C. Chapman Building Co. v. California Mart

Appellant owns and operates an office and commercial building known as the “Chapman Building,” located at 756 South Broadway, Los Angeles. Prior to 1955, the Chapman Building was occupied mainly by professional tenants, such as doctors, dentists, attorneys and accountants. In 1955 a number of sales representatives of wholesalers and manufacturers of children’s wear approached the owners of the Chapman Building and requested office space. Pursuant to such request, the owners moved the sixth floor tenants to other floors in order to house children’s wear representatives on that floor. This removal was necessary as it was not possible to house these two types of tenants on the same floor because of the physical differences between the types of offices required by the professions and by the apparel representatives. In order to meet the needs of the children’s wear tenants, the premises were altered by such means as removing walls, changing doorways and lighting, and installing asphalt tile flooring. Gradually, as more representatives of the children’s wear industry requested to move into the Chapman Building, the process of emptying floors of professional tenants and making…