Ferraro Says May Co. Store Must Be Saved by Builders : Landmark: City will not approve project unless exterior is kept intact, council president says. Developers are ‘dismayed’ by the decision.

Developers who want to build office towers on the site of the 1930s-era May Co. store on the Miracle Mile will have to preserve the historic store if they want to proceed with their apartment-office-hotel project, City Council President John Ferraro said Friday.

“It’s a landmark and one of those things we have to save,” said Ferraro, whose district includes the store.

Steve Albert, president of Forest City Development, said he was disappointed by Ferraro’s decision.

“We are somewhat surprised by it and a bit dismayed by his statement that the May Co. must be preserved,” Albert said. He said Forest City was unable to find a way to make it worthwhile to keep the building.

“It’s just an economic hardship to lose that corner for development purposes,” Albert said.

Forest City and the May Co. must obtain zoning changes and plan amendments from the city before they can proceed with a development on four separate pieces of property in the Fairfax district.

Ferraro is expected to prevail on the matter. “We don’t have old buildings like they do in Europe, that are 400 or 800 years old, but we have some buildings that are interesting. This one was built in 1939, so it’s not that old,” he said of the black and gold department store at Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. “But it’s worth keeping.”

In Forest City’s plan, which was submitted in December, the developers said they hoped to build a 500-room hotel and two 25-story office towers on the May Co. site.

The plan also calls for 1,800 new rental units and housing for more than 600 senior citizens at Forest City’s 10,000-resident Park Labrea apartment complex, already the largest in the city.

But Ferraro said the entire proposal will have to be scaled down to reduce the impact of traffic. He also said the city will not insist that the interior be preserved.

The building has been extensively remodeled inside, said Barbara Hoff, director of conservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy. Hoff also said the building could be converted for use as offices or art galleries without sacrificing its Streamline Moderne architectural style.

“We’re extremely pleased,” she said. “It’s not every day that a major building is preserved in Los Angeles.”