If you’ve spent more than five minutes in Downtown Los Angeles lately, you've seen it. You literally can't miss it. That massive, sail-shaped glass tower piercing the skyline with its glowing LED spine? That’s 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA. Most locals just call it the Wilshire Grand Center, but the address is where the business happens. It’s weird to think that just over a decade ago, this spot was occupied by a dated, 1950s-era hotel that looked like it belonged in a grainy noir film rather than a modern tech hub.
Today, it’s the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Well, sort of.
There’s actually a whole thing about the height. If you measure just the roof, the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco actually beats it. But thanks to that 295-foot spire, 900 Wilshire Boulevard officially claims the title at 1,100 feet. It’s a bit of a vanity metric, honestly, but in the world of high-stakes commercial real estate, those feet matter. They matter a lot.
Why 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA Changed Everything for DTLA
Before the current tower went up, the site held the old Wilshire Grand Hotel. It was fine, I guess. But by the 2000s, it was tired. It felt heavy. When Korean Air and Hanjin Group decided to sink over $1 billion into this corner of Wilshire and Figueroa, people thought they were crazy. DTLA wasn't exactly the "it" place back then.
They weren't just building an office. They were building a statement.
The architecture, handled by AC Martin, broke a massive rule in Los Angeles. For decades, LA skyscrapers had to have flat roofs for helipads. It’s why the skyline used to look like a bunch of shoeboxes standing on end. The designers of 900 Wilshire Boulevard fought for a tactical exception, arguing that modern fire safety tech made the flat-roof requirement obsolete. They won. That’s why we have that iconic sloping roofline now. It changed the literal shape of the city.
Inside, it’s a weird, vertical city. You have the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown taking up the upper floors. Their lobby isn't on the ground floor—it’s on the 70th. You walk in off the street, hit an express elevator, and your ears pop before you reach the check-in desk. It’s a trip.
The Business of the Tallest Tower in the West
Commercial real estate at this level is a blood sport. 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA isn't just a hotel; it’s a massive chunk of Class A office space. We’re talking about roughly 350,000 square feet of some of the most expensive dirt in California.
Who actually works there?
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It’s a mix. You have high-end law firms, tech companies, and logistics giants. SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments) is a big tenant there. They moved in because, frankly, if you’re trying to run a region, you might as well do it from the building that overlooks everything. The floor plates are designed with this "open" concept that was all the rage when it opened in 2017, and it still holds up. Huge windows. Tons of natural light. If you’re stuck in a meeting, at least you can see the Pacific Ocean on a clear day.
But it hasn't all been easy. The pandemic hit DTLA office spaces like a freight train.
Even a trophy asset like 900 Wilshire Boulevard felt the squeeze. While the hotel side recovered as tourism bounced back, the office market in Los Angeles has been... complicated. We’ve seen a "flight to quality," where companies ditch their crappy 1980s offices for top-tier spots like this. It’s basically the only way to get employees to actually show up in person anymore. "Come to the office, we have a 73rd-floor bar" is a pretty decent recruiting pitch.
Breaking Down the Specs
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty because the numbers are actually insane.
The foundation pour for this building set a Guinness World Record. Seriously. In 2014, they had 208 trucks circling the block for 18 hours straight. They poured 82 million pounds of concrete. It was like a choreographed dance of construction equipment. This wasn't just for show—the building sits near the San Andreas Fault. It has to be able to sway. The engineering involved in making an 1,100-foot glass needle earthquake-proof is enough to make your head spin.
The glass itself is high-performance. It’s designed to keep the heat out while letting the light in. In a city where the sun tries to kill your AC unit six months a year, that’s not just "green" building—it’s survival.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Address
People get confused because "900 Wilshire" sounds like it should be an old-school corporate block. But this place is arguably the center of LA’s "sky-high" dining scene.
You’ve got La Boucherie on the 71st floor. It’s a French steakhouse where the wine list is basically a mortgage payment. Then there’s Spire 73. It’s the highest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere. It’s windy. It’s loud. It’s expensive. And honestly? It’s awesome. Sitting by a fire pit 1,000 feet in the air while watching the 110 freeway crawl like a line of ants is a quintessentially Los Angeles experience.
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But here’s the thing: it’s not just for tourists.
The ground floor retail and the surrounding plaza were designed to actually connect with the street. For a long time, LA skyscrapers were like fortresses. They had these big, concrete plazas that screamed "stay away." 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA tried to do the opposite. It’s right near the 7th Street/Metro Center station, which is the heart of the transit system. It’s one of the few places in LA where you can actually live a somewhat "urban" life without a car. Sorta.
The Logistics of 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA
If you’re planning to visit or do business here, there are some logistical realities you need to know.
Parking is... well, it’s Downtown LA. It’s expensive and confusing. There is an underground garage, but most people use the valet for the hotel. If you’re just there for an office meeting, use the Metro. The 7th Street station is literally a block away. It saves you $45 and a lot of swearing.
The security is tight. You aren't just wandering into the office elevators. You need a badge or a guest pass scanned at the glass turnstiles. It feels very "Mission Impossible," but that’s the standard for Class A buildings now.
Sustainability and the "Green" Lie
We hear a lot about "green" buildings, and often it’s just marketing fluff. At 900 Wilshire, they actually went for LEED Gold certification. They use smart elevators that group people by floor to save energy. They have a massive water reclamation system.
Is it perfect? No. A giant glass tower in a desert-adjacent climate is never going to be "natural." But compared to the old hotel that used to sit there, it’s a massive leap forward in efficiency. The LED lighting on the exterior—the stuff that changes color for the Dodgers or Lakers games—is all low-energy.
The Future of the Financial District
The area around 900 Wilshire Boulevard is currently in a state of flux. To the east, you have the historic core. To the west, the freeway. This building acts as an anchor.
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We’re seeing more residential conversions in the neighborhood. While 900 Wilshire remains strictly commercial and hospitality, the fact that it exists makes the surrounding blocks more valuable. It’s the "halo effect." When you put a billion-dollar tower on a corner, the coffee shop across the street suddenly becomes a gold mine.
However, we have to talk about the "empty office" problem. Even with the "flight to quality," DTLA has high vacancy rates. The success of 900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA is tied to the city's ability to keep the Financial District relevant. If companies keep moving to Culver City or Century City, even the prettiest spire won't save a building.
But so far, it’s holding its own. The hotel is almost always booked, and the bars are packed. It’s become a landmark. When you see a movie set in LA now, they always show this building. It’s replaced the US Bank Tower as the "face" of the city.
Real Insights for Navigating 900 Wilshire
If you’re heading there, don’t be the person who gets lost looking for the lobby.
- The "Sky Lobby" is Key: If you’re going to the hotel or the bars, go straight to the elevators marked for the 70th floor. Don't wander around the ground floor looking for a check-in desk. It's not there.
- The Spire 73 Trick: They often charge a cover fee for non-guests. If you want the view without the cover, grab a drink at the Lobby Lounge on 70. The view is 95% as good and you're behind glass, which is better if it’s a windy night.
- Office Hours: If you're there for business, give yourself an extra 15 minutes. The security screening and the two-stage elevator process (lobby to sky lobby, sky lobby to office floor) takes longer than you think.
- Commuter Strategy: Use the 7th Street/Metro Center. It’s served by the Red, Purple, Blue, and Expo lines. It is the most connected spot in the entire city.
900 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA isn't just an address. It’s a testament to a specific moment in LA's history when the city decided to stop building boxes and start building icons. Whether it stays the "tallest" or gets eclipsed by some new project in the next decade doesn't really matter. It’s already redefined what it looks like to be "Downtown."
To truly understand this property, you have to look at it as a vertical ecosystem. It’s a place where someone is sleeping in a five-star suite on the 60th floor, someone else is closing a multi-million dollar merger on the 40th floor, and a tourist is taking a selfie with a $20 cocktail on the 73rd. It’s chaotic, expensive, and beautiful. It’s basically Los Angeles in a nutshell.
If you are looking into leasing or visiting, your next move should be checking the official Wilshire Grand Center portal for current tenant access rules, as they change frequently based on security protocols. For dining, always book a reservation at least a week in advance; the "walk-in" culture doesn't really exist 1,000 feet in the air.