Wilshire Grand center tower (Los Angeles, San Francisco: city hall, lease, hotels)

[citizensadvocate]

Hello everyone what do you think of the new Wilshire Grand center tower that was built in the financial district of downtown LA where the old Wilshire Grand hotel once stood?

Its rumored that its going to have a shopping mall on the bottom, leased office floors on the lower floors, an Intercontinental hotel on the upper half of the building, an observation deck(the second one in LA), not to mention conference facilities, ball rooms, and restaurants on both the lower, middle, and upper parts of the building.

It is also one of the few buildings exempted from the "heli-port" requirements in LA. I don't know why they would exempt this building from having this vital lifesaving rescue platform after 9/11 and the Interstate bank fires. Both incidents show how vulnerable people trapped on upper floors can be during a fire. A heli port is also useful for medical evacuations and to safely transfer high profile individuals to and from the building. I would imagine people would be mad if trapped individuals were left to die on the roof during a fire that blocks the stairwells because the city exempted the tower from having their only means of escape.

I hear that its currently the tallest building west of the Mississippi. I am curious how they didn't go one step farther and plan to build it as the tallest building in the US or at least as high the 1 WTC or Freedom tower in New York.

So anyone excited to see this building open in March of 2017? I bet the hotel is very expensive to stay in though.

[PDF]

Tallest building on West coast, right? I remember many were excited about it. I like it. LA's skyline is...lacking.

[citizensadvocate]

If they a tad taller than it would had been the tallest in North America.

[saybanana]

I think it is a beautiful building. Looks like a knife standing up with a spire. I like that it is accessible to the general public unlike other skyscrapers in LA. I could go to the restaurants and bars or observation deck and shopping and not be a hotel guests or work there. If newer buildings in new York and around the word can deal without the a heli-pad, then im sure LA is fine without it. There is a tactical pad on the top which will allow someone to be lowered from a helicopter and then the person goes down a flight of stairs. Dont think it is that different from saving people when fell off a cliff.

I was looking at some of the prices of the hotel room and they are quite expensive. Many days were sold out. I think waiting a few months/a year and the prices will get lower. The prices are similar or higher than many 5 star hotels in the LA/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica area, but I dont think InterContinental is a 5 star brand. Still,New things are more expensive. The Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn at LA Live had prices at the mid $350-400 the opening months. That is a lower end Marriott brand, too. Currently in the low $200s generally after more than a year open I think.

[citizensadvocate]

I really like it too. While US bank tower also opened a new observation deck last year that is the only place one can see in the US bank tower unless they are visiting a tenant in the tower in which they would only be able to access elevators leading to that particular tenant.

Though I believe the Wilshire tower would let visitors ride elevators to the skylobby where the hotel lobby begins and some restaurants and be able to change elevators to restaurants or observation deck in a higher level is which would be very neat.

360 Observation decks and sky restaurants are a great recent addition which LA had long lacked. Originally one only has the city hall top to see all around or the elevators of the Westin Bonaventure to get a better view.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by PDF

Tallest building on West coast, right? I remember many were excited about it. I like it. LA's skyline is...lacking.

Lordy-Beee! The World Trade Center started this madness, counting the tip of the spire of the tower as part of the tower! No the World Trade Center Tower is not, not, not the tallest in America, it's still the Sears/Willis Tower in Chicago!

So I build a building in L.A. that only goes to 900 feet, I top if off with a 500 foot spire, and voila! I've got the tallest tower in town!

The tallest in San Francisco is just about to be topped off, something close to 1100 feet, and if San Francisco was on a big ego trip, it would have added a 2-300 foot spire on top, and? Tallest on the West Coast!

But if that feeds your ego, then go ahead, claim it's the tallest in L.A. or on the West Coast!

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Lordy-Beee! The World Trade Center started this madness, counting the tip of the spire of the tower as part of the tower! No the World Trade Center Tower is not, not, not the tallest in America, it's still the Sears/Willis Tower in Chicago!

So I build a building in L.A. that only goes to 900 feet, I top if off with a 500 foot spire, and voila! I've got the tallest tower in town!

The tallest in San Francisco is just about to be topped off, something close to 1100 feet, and if San Francisco was on a big ego trip, it would have added a 2-300 foot spire on top, and? Tallest on the West Coast!

But if that feeds your ego, then go ahead, claim it's the tallest in L.A. or on the West Coast!

There are different ways to measure that do or do not include the roof height.

Decorative spires weren't created by the World Trade Center. Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Burj Khalifa, many churches well before skyscrapers existed. You can just personally go by roof height or height to the floor of the highest occupiable floor. These are all definitions that exist for tallest buildings.

Whichever you go by, Wilshire Grand definitely has a notable presence in the Los Angeles skyline.

[adr3naline]

I don't think I'm alone in thinking the "tallest on the west coast" title is BS. The cheater-spire is the only reason it's able to make such a claim. Take a look at the US Bank Building as it sits perched atop Bunker Hill, boasting occupiable stories that extend above the Wilshire Grand's roof. It will still dominate DTLA's skyline.

As for presence, I agree the Wilshire Grand is impressive. My office is next door and I've watched it slowly rise to the beautiful behemoth it is today.

[citizensadvocate]

Its still great we are finally getting observation decks on the tallest towers in Los Angeles. It used to be only the 27 story tall city hall that offered something like an observation deck and the 35 story tall Westin Bonaventure which offered a rotating restaurant. Those two buildings were really dwarfed by all those other buildings that were more than twice as tall in downtown. Alas all this time the other buildings that were much taller had no part of the building one can see out more than one side of the building and only through relatively tiny windows.

Though I am always wondering why there isn't much of a race to the top in the West Coast unlike in the East coast and even though the buildings are close to being as high. If they are going to build over 1000 ft they might as well build it higher than Willies tower.

I see one mentioned how NYC survived well without the heli-pad. Though I would ponder whether helipads on top of the twin towers could have saved lives on the WTC on that fateful day.