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The concrete core of the Wilshire Grand Center, a 73-storey tower set to become the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles, has now surpassed the height of the eighth tallest building in the city. Figueroa at Wilshire was pushed down to ninth tallest as Wilshire Grand overtook the 719-foot mark with a recent core jump. Once complete, the 1,100-foot tower is expected to cost $1 billion and contain 900 hotel rooms, 677,000 square feet of office space, 67,000 square feet of retail and an observation deck.
The six-storey podium will house retail, meeting rooms and a ballroom. Offices will occupy floors 6-58 and the InterContinental Hotel will take space up to the 69th floor. A skybar on the 70th floor and two storeys of restaurants above will be capped by a rooftop pool and open-air observation deck.
Developer Korean Air and architect AC Martin Partners partnered with the idea of revitalizing this stretch of the financial district. The site was home to the original Wilshire Grand Hotel which opened in 1952 under the name Hotel Statler. After welcoming a throng of distinguished guests over its six-decade history, including President John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul II, demolition of the structure began in 2012. Much of the old hotel's building materials, mostly concrete and steel, were recycled.
When 21,200 cubic yards of concrete were laid in February 2014, it broke the world record for the largest continuous concrete pour, a title formerly held by The Venetian in Las Vegas. The pour created an 18-foot thick foundation, which is a necessary prerequisite to becoming the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.
The spire, crown and skin of the tower will be illuminated in LEDs at night. The Wilshire Grand's state-of-the-art fire safety technology was enough to convince officials to grant the development an exemption to the 1974 fire ordinance requiring tall towers to be equipped with a helipad. The exemption allows the tower's abnormal roof to make a distinctive addition to the skyline.
Scheduled completion for the building has been pegged for 2017. Until then, you can keep updated by viewing the OxBlue construction webcam, and by checking out the information and images in the dataBase entry linked below. You can also visit the associated Forum thread or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
