The building used for exterior shots of MacGyver's season 2 loft has undergone a dramatic facelift to now include a cement facade and arched roof according to reports today from
Los Angeles Magazine which is reporting that construction on the 12,000-square-foot building, which will house retail space and offices, was supposed to be completed in spring 2013, but as of November it was still undergoing renovations.
A screen capture from a Season 2 episode of MacGyver (left), a Google Street View image taken in 2012
(middle), and a November 2013 photograph of the location, courtesy of Lindsay Blake (right)..Interestingly the Hardware sign has been retained, perhaps as a nod to the buildings history. Throughout the season 2 appearances of the building a bright red Hardware sign can bee seen advertising the General Hardware store which occupied much of the ground level of the building. In later years the building itself looked to have become very run down with both the hardware store and dry cleaners, which occupied the space beside it, appearing to have closed down or moved on. The hardware store was eventually replaced by the "Hardwear" clothing store and it's this incarnation of the sign which has now been engraved into the new face of the building, presumably indicating that the clothing store is still occupying the ground floor space.
Thankfully MacGyver's other Seasons 1 and 7 abodes still remain in Venice (
317 Ocean Front Walk and
1421 Abbot Kinney Boulevard), still looking much the same as they did when the series originally aired.