Archinect - News

Downtown LA's U.S. Bank Tower completes two-year overhaul (bye-bye, Skyslide)

2023-04-06T17:57:00-04:00

Silverstein Properties has just completed its overhaul of the Pei Cobb Freed & Partners-designed U.S. Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles.

The two-year, $60 million project issued major upgrades across 35,000 square feet of the building while installing a new entrance lobby and amenities-laden 54th-floor Vista feature. Jeffrey Beers International and A+I were in charge of leading the redesign, which also removed the 69th-floor Skyslide attraction that was first installed in 2018.

“The U.S. Bank Tower is a landmark in Downtown Los Angeles,” Silverstein Properties Chairman Larry A. Silverstein said in a statement. “We have reimagined the building with spaces and amenities that reflect the new way of working. We want to ensure it remains a beacon of the business district and also contributes more broadly to a thriving downtown — one of the best places in LA to work, live, and visit.”

Related on Archinect: LA's iconic US Bank Tower sold to NYC developer

The company purchased the tower in...

New renderings leak of Foster + Partners' upgraded redesign for 2 World Trade Center

2022-02-16T19:12:00-05:00

A revised version of one of the world’s most high-profile architectural projects by Foster + Partners is now being circulated online as new renderings have surfaced that depict the firm’s upgraded Two World Trade Center design.

The London-based firm was added back onto the development team in January 2020 after developers Silverstein Properties officially nixed a concept from Bjarke Ingels Group that had been on the docket since replacing Foster's original design in 2015. Since then, Silverstein has been in pursuit of the anchor tenants necessary to provide the confidence to commit to the entirely-private development.

Rendering by Visualhouse

The final piece of the renewed 16-acre World Trade Center site will now stand some 1,350 feet above the Oculus and 9/11 Memorial site and quartet of other office towers designed David Childs, Richard Rogers, Fumihiko Maki, and Kohn Pedersen Fox, respectively. The foundation of the building has already been completed, givi...

LA's iconic US Bank Tower sold to NYC developer

2020-09-22T14:49:00-04:00

Silverstein Properties closed on its $430 million deal to buy US Bank Tower, an iconic Downtown Los Angeles property whose purchase price was far below initial expectations. [...] In a statement, chairman Larry Silverstein said: “I believe in the future of Downtown Los Angeles.”

The 73-story US Bank Tower, designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the recently completed Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles and later the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco took over that title.

The 36-foot-long glass 'SkySlide' was added on the outside of the tower's 70th and 69th floors in 2016.

BIG-designed WTC tower booted for Foster + Partners revamp

2020-01-16T16:01:00-05:00

Back in 2015, Foster + Partners' design was shelved for a more favorable by the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). At the time, it looked like News Corporation and 21st Century Fox were slated to lease the building but backed out a year later. "Now that BIG’s quirky tower of stacked boxes has no takers, the old Foster design is being 'significantly modified to be more reflective of contemporary needs and taste,'" said developer Larry Silverstein, according to the New York Post.

Norman Foster's original proposal for Two World Trade Center via 2015

Foster's initial design didn't fit the needs for the two media giants, which prompted the redesign by BIG, which focused specifically on the needs of these tenants. As tenants fill up the existing towers, Silverstein's next focus will be acquiring tenants for Tower 2, which he's suggested might begin construction without first signing some. But, as the New York Post reports, "if he wants a tenant first, a new Foster design might be just the thing to...

Rupert Murdoch suddenly pulls out of 2 World Trade Center deal

2016-01-18T17:48:00-05:00

Rupert Murdoch has dropped his plans to relocate 21st Century Fox and News Corp. to 2 World Trade Center. In a statement issued Friday afternoon, World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein declared himself “disappointed” by the news. [...] In June, the two media companies signed a letter of intent with Silverstein to occupy 1.5 million square feet for 30 years at a 2 World Trade Center designed by architect Bjarke Ingels.

2 WTC previously in the Archinect news:

2 World Trade Center receives $9M rent assistance from Port Authority to expedite project

2015-12-15T13:14:00-05:00

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved subsidies to help expedite the construction of lower Manhattan’s 2 World Trade Center [...]. Developer Silverstein Properties Inc., which leases the sites for 2 World Trade Center and two other towers from the Port Authority, would receive a rent break that amounts to $9 million over the life of the lease [...]. The agency had previously maintained that 2 World Trade would be built entirely without public assistance.

Previously in the Archinect news:

2 World Trade Center Could Be the Most Expensive Office Tower in the World

2015-08-06T13:25:00-04:00

Construction of the Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 World Trade Center will come with a $4 billion price tag. The 2.8 million-square-foot downtown tower will top out at 1,340 feet, just 28 feet shy of One World Trade Center, which currently holds the title of the world’s most expensive office building with construction costs coming in at $3.8 billion.

Larry Silverstein, developer of 2 World Trade Center, is looking for $500 million in financing to fund the $4 billion tower’s completion. If all goes according to plan, a lease could be signed by the end of the year and construction could start next year with a 2020 completion date.