$1 Billion Hotel Reconstruction To Bring Jobs Downtown

Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Matt Karatz addressed the downtown community Tuesday morning giving the go-ahead for a new Wilshire Grand Hotel to be erected.

The 70-story downtown hotel comprised of 900 rooms will tower over the Los Angeles skyline at 930 Wilshire Blvd. as the second tallest building in downtown. The building will also house 400,000 sq. ft. of office space.

The city is expected to receive $16 million annually in tax revenue once the Wilshire Grand Hotel is up and running in 2017 and $80 million in tax revenue during construction.

The new Wilshire Grand Hotel is estimated to provide 11,500 new jobs, said Sean Rossall, media contact for the Wilshire Grand Project. Only 1,750 of those jobs will be permanent once construction is over.

"It's a billion dollar project in commitment and revenue for the city," said Rossall.

The Wilshire Grand Project committee meets with neighbors monthly to ensure that "any impacts are absolutely minimal," said Rossall.

The change in traffic flow is a concern for downtown residents and workers, but Rossall said that traffic will remain exactly how it was before the project. Pedestrian access, however, will be restricted.

The city aims to establish an additional 5,000 hotel rooms for visitors, and the Wilshire Grand Hotel will complete 20 percent of that goal.

"The demands really became about hotel space and convention and visitor space," said Rossall.

With the talks of a new football stadium, there will be an influx in people with every sporting event.

"The project's just a hop, skip and a jump from Staples, Nokia, and L.A. Live," he said. "[The Wilshire Grand is] going to become a social hub."

Environmentalists are pleased to hear that the hotel will be LEED Silver certified with low energy lighting and recycled irrigation landscaping.