The owner of the historic Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles has outlined plans for a planned redevelopment, including a 560-room luxury hotel and a 65-story office tower.

Wilshire Grand Project

Korean Air, the company which has owned the hotel for the past 20 years, had last year declared its intention to raze the Wilshire Grand and replace it with a $1 billion project.

Korean Air Chairman Yang-Ho Cho talked about the plan at a town hall event in Los Angeles yesterday.

He indicated that he understood the historical significance of the hotel, and added that “For everything there is a season, and this grand hotel’s season has come to an end.”

After the new project is complete (the city hasn’t approved it yet and no timeline has been set), around 4000 people will be working in the complex.

It is being built to USGBC standards and there also will be a park at Figueroa and Seventh, and Cho says the project will bring in 10 million new tax dollars to the city each year.

The hotel opened in 1952 as the Los Angeles Statler, and went through several name changes - Statler-Hilton, Hilton Hotel & Towers, Omni, and then the Wilshire Grand. The soon-to-be closed hotel is located 4 blocks from Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. 

The Wilshire Grand project is the latest in a series of Los Angeles hotel projects, including the $2.5 billion, 54-story, 878-room JW Marriott LA Live, which opened on Feb 15, 2010. The redevelopment of the Century Plaza Hotel has been restricted to a partial facelift due to opposition from conservationists.

Photo courtesy AC Martin Parters

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