Chinese hotel ownership group Shenzhen New World Group Co., which owns the L.A. Hotel Downtown at 333 S. Figueroa St., announced Wednesday that it will spend $20 million to covert the independent hotel into a Hyatt Regency.

Work to upgrade the hotel has already begun and is expected to be completed by May. Each of the 419 guestrooms and 72 suites will be redone with wall treatments, carpet, upgraded bathrooms, and new bedding and furnishings.

The hotel’s 22,000 square feet of meeting space, including 17 conference rooms and two ballrooms, will also be remodeled.