Biggest Skyscraper in Western U.S. Rises This Month in L.A.

Vertical construction starts this month on what will be the tallest building in Los Angeles, the state of California, and the entire Western United States.

Workers begin pouring cement for the Wilshire Grand, a 73-story skyscraper with offices, retail, and a luxury hotel that includes a 70th floor lobby, on February 15. Construction crews will set a record with the largest continuous concrete pour, with 2,100 truckloads of cement filling a massive hole in the downtown area's Financial District.

The $1.1 billion project is funded by the parent company of Korean Air, which does a lot of business at LAX and the port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest. When finished in 2017, the AC Martin-designed tower and its soaring spire will be bigger than anything in Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, or Texas. But Chicago and New York still have buildings taller than the Wilshire Grand: the Windy City's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the Big Apple's under-construction One World Trade are both higher, with the latter clocking in at 1,776 feet when its spire is counted.

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