The tallest building in California,
and along the entire Pacific coast, is U.S Bank Tower in Los Angeles. The tower
measures 1,018 feet and has 73 floors above the ground, in addition to two
underground levels used for parking. It is the tallest U.S. building west of
the Mississippi River, and the tenth tallest in the country. Its roof is home
to the second highest helipad in the world, after Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
Construction of this postmodern skyscraper began in 1987 and
was completed in 1989. Its façade is marble with a white and green curtain
wall. Because Los Angeles is an active seismic location, precautions were taken
in the building’s construction that will enable it to withstand an 8.3
earthquake. It was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners’ architect Henry
N. Cobb. Estimated building costs totaled $350 million.
This building has been known by the alternate name Library
Tower because of its role in the Los Angeles Central Library redevelopment
project which began in 1986. The city sold air rights to the tower’s developers
to help pay for repairs to the library, which had been damaged in a fire. It
was also called First Interstate Bank World Center for a short time, but
reverted to Library Tower after the merger of First Interstate Bancorp with Wells
Fargo. It became U.S. Bank Tower in 2003 when it was leased to U.S. Bancorp.
The crown atop the tower lights up at night and its colors
are changed to celebrate Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and important Lakers and
Dodgers games. Because this building is so instrumental in defining the Los
Angeles skyline; it can be seen in several television shows and movies such as Independence Day. Each September for the
past twenty years, the tower has been home to Ketchum-Downtown YMCA’s annual
Stair Climb for Los Angeles.
This building was sold March of 2013 to Singapore investors for $367 million dollars. The building has suffered in keeping fully occupied since the recession hit in the 2000's.
The Wilshire Grand hotel is soon to become the tallest building in California and will surpass the U.S. Bank Tower. Estimated completion is 2017. This will be a very unique building and will not feature a helipad like many of the buildings in Los Angeles.
Click here to see the full listing of tallest building in each of the 50 United States.
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