Thank You Chairman Cho and Korean Air

by Gary Toebben

When I wrote about the Los Angeles City Council's approval of the Wilshire Grand project in April 2011, the City was struggling to emerge from the recession. The promise of a new Wilshire Grand was a delicate balance of vision, commitment to L.A. and a test of private and public sector leadership. Now, after six years of watching this vision come to life at the corner of Wilshire and Figueroa, we eagerly anticipate the ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony this Friday.

This project is an iconic L.A. story - one that begins with the success of Korean Air and the relationship between two USC alumni, Y.H. Cho, chairman of Korean Air, and Chris Martin, chairman of AC Martin. In 2009, the original concept for the Wilshire Grand was two towers dominated by commercial office space. Changes to the market by 2011 meant the project no longer penciled-out. Two towers became one single taller tower, which would include a 900-room hotel to be operated by The Intercontinental Hotel Group, 350,000 square feet of office space, and 45,000 square foot of restaurant and retail space.

The 73-story tower is topped by a spire, reaching 1,100 feet above Figueroa Street, allowing the building to claim the title of tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River. The spire itself is architecturally groundbreaking because it is the first rooftop in downtown L.A. in four decades that is neither truncated nor flat to land a helicopter. This new skyscraper with its shape and glass paneling has undergone the most sophisticated seismic modeling ever performed on a building in Southern California. In 2014, the foundation was laid in what became known as the “Grand Pour,” a historic 20 hours in which 2,120 truckloads of concrete were continuously poured into a hole 18 feet deep.

These feats of architecture, engineering and construction created 11,500 jobs. These jobs were particularly important during the recession, as pointed out in a letter from Chris Martin in 2010 after the Chamber organized a trade mission to Korea for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. During Chairman Cho's meeting with Gov. Schwarzenegger, the Chairman made his famous commitment to proceed with building the project.

Downtown L.A. has come a long way in the decade since this new landmark was first imagined. Chairman Cho's commitment to a billion dollar investment during the heart of the recession gave confidence to dozens of other investors. And indeed, they followed suit.

On behalf of the L.A. business community, I thank Chairman Cho, Korean Air, AC Martin and the 11,500 people who worked on this project for making their dream our reality. The Wilshire Grand Center and The Intercontinental Hotel are new shining jewels in the crown of downtown L.A.

And that's The Business Perspective.