The New Tallest Building on the West Coast

Designs for the new Wilshire Grand were released Thursday, giving Los Angeles a first glimpse of what the city skyline will look like come 2017.

The $1-billion hotel, office, and retail building, designed by AC Martin Partners and developed by Korean Air, will top off at 73 stories including the spire. It will beat out the West Coast's current tallest building, the city's U.S. Bank Tower, by 82 feet, according to the Los Angeles Times.

It's slated to open in 2017, replacing the old Wilshire Grand, which closed in 2011.

LA Weekly offers a a concise reason for why you should care: the hotel on the 70th floor will have a Sky Lobby with "staggering views of our metropolis." The top of the building is made entirely of glass, and its designed to "maximize" views of Santa Monica, the Pacific Ocean, Hollywood, and the city's much celebrated sunsets.

They report:

As incredible as it may seem, Los Angeles currently offers nothing higher than a measly 35-story...viewing platform from which the public can take in its prodigious sprawl.

From no tall building can the public see both Catalina Island and Dodger Stadium (which, from an airplane, looks like a tiny teacup buried in bowl of coffee -- it's massive parking lot) in one good, long panoramic look.

So in 2017, Angelenos will be able to see their sprawling city from the sky (almost like Angels, no?).

All images courtesy of AC Martin Partners.