Wilshire Grand Redevelopment

HR&A assessed the economic and fiscal impacts of the Wilshire Grand Tower to justify public investment in the tallest building in Los Angeles.

For Hanjin International and Thomas Properties Group, HR&A prepared the detailed economic and tax revenue analyses components of a proposal to replace Los Angeles’ obsolete Wilshire Grand hotel with a 2.4 million square foot, mixed-use development. The development,  located in Los Angeles’ central business district, will house a five-star luxury hotel, Class-A office space, 100 condominiums, and retail to draw international businesses to downtown Los Angeles. Once completed in 2017, the 73-story Wilshire Grand will be the first high-rise office building constructed in Downtown Los Angeles in over 20 years.

Our analysis demonstrated that the new development would generate sufficient net new revenues to justify a subvention agreement, with the City committing 50 percent of the project’s transient occupancy tax revenue for a fixed period of time to aide development feasibility. HR&A participated in working group sessions with senior City staff and the City’s outside real estate advisor to confirm analysis assumptions and results.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the financial structure of the subvention in 2011. The Wilshire Grand Tower was completed in June 2017.