Hey there,
I walked over there on Saturday (birthday time!) to check out the work they are doing, and it looks awesome.
Actually what's going on is that the original windows were replaced by ugly vinyl sliders some time in the last 20 years. They also made the windows much smaller, to fit the specifications of the ready-made sliders, and filled in the floor to ceiling entry way windows on either side of the door.
So the windows they are putting now are actually in accordance with the Historic Preservation Ordinance, which requires that any renovations made to a Cultural Historic Landmark must reflect the time period of significance. They would not have been able to enforce this however, had the new owner not replaced the old vinyl windows with NEW vinyl windows (unpermitted), effictively activating the above rule, which resulted in the Cultural Heritage Commission intervening. That's sort of convoluted, but I hope it makes some sense.
Long story short, the place now more closely resembles how it looked in the time when Bukowski lived there. As an added bonus for the future tenants, it also looks much better!
-Lauren