Two California Plaza facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Two California Plaza
Two California Plaza (left), One California Plaza (right).
Alternative names	Deloitte & Touche Building
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Location	350 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, California
Construction started	1990
Completed	1992
Owner	CIM Group
Height
Roof	228 m (748 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	52
Floor area	123,542 m2 (1,329,800 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	26
Design and construction
Architect	Arthur Erickson Architects AC Martin Partners
Developer	Metropolitan Structures West
Structural engineer	Martin & Huang International
Main contractor	Hathaway Dinwiddie

Two California Plaza is a 750-foot (230 m) skyscraper in the Bunker Hill District of downtown Los Angeles, California. The tower is part of the California Plaza project, consisting of two unique skyscrapers, One California Plaza and Two California Plaza. The Plaza is also home to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Colburn School of Performing Arts, the Los Angeles Omni Hotel, and a 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) water court.

History

Completed in 1992 by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, Two California Plaza has 1.329 million sq ft (123,500 m²) of office space. The towers were designed by Arthur Erickson Architects and named BOMA Building of the Year in 1997 and 2001.

California Plaza was a ten-year, US$1.2 billion project. Started in 1983, the Two California Plaza tower was completed in 1992 during a significant slump in the downtown Los Angeles real estate market. The tower opened with only 30 percent of its space leased and overall vacancy rates in downtown office space neared 25 percent. It was nearly 10 years before significant tall buildings were completed again in downtown Los Angeles.

California Plaza was originally planned to include 3 high rise tower office buildings instead of the two completed. Three California Plaza at 65 floors, was planned for a site just north of 4th St., directly across Olive St. from California Plaza's first two office highrises and was planned to house the Metropolitan Water District's permanent headquarters. The site is currently an entrance to the Pershing Square subway station.

The construction and US$23 million cost of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) was part of a city-brokered deal with the developer of the California Plaza redevelopment project, Bunker Hill Associates, who received the use of an 11-acre (4.5 ha), publicly owned parcel of land.

Owner MPG Office Trust let the property go into receivership in 2012. A tenant since 2000, Deloitte moved to the nearby Gas Company Tower in 2014.

In 2014, CIM Group bought the building and made improvements to the restaurants and shops in the plaza which was popular but had been neglected. The California Plaza courtyard has an elaborate dancing-water fountain and the upper station of the funicular railway Angels Flight. The plaza also links to the Museum of Contemporary Art and an apartment tower. Several clear shots of the tower under construction can be seen in the 1991 comedy/action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man.

Tenants

• Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.
• Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
• City National Bank (California)

Gallery

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  California Plaza towers

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  California Plaza towers one and two

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  California Plaza towers with the US Bank Tower in the background