Eric Richardson [Flickr]

Renovation work continues inside the Hotel Bristol, which should reopen at the beginning of 2010.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — It's amazing what a little cleaning will do. Just six months ago 8th street's Hotel Bristol looked lifeless and ancient. A power wash and a fresh coat of paint later, the building again looks like a respectable addition to the street.

Eric Shomof, part of the ownership group that purchased the shuttered residential hotel earlier this year, says that updates are progressing smoothly, and that the building should be ready for occupation early in 2010.

Shomof said that most work on the building is "a lot of cosmetic stuff," along with new sprinklers and fire alarms.

Restauranteur Adolfo Suaya bought the residential hotel in 2003 with plans to convert it to a boutique. Lawsuits over improper evictions put a stop to that, and the building changed hands in March. It will reopen as Section 8 affordable housing.

A second location for 6th street's D-Town Burger Bar will be opening on the ground floor, next door to the Golden Gopher. The club in the basement will remain in place through its lease, which Shomof said has approximately a year remaining. After that, the owners will likely be looking for a new tenant for the space.