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Overview

This steel-frame, Modernist bank tower stood on the southeast corner of West 6th Street and South Olive Street, across the street from Pershing Square's southwest corner. The Citinational Buckeye Investment Company, a joint venture of the City National Bank and the Buckeye Realty and Management Corportation, both of Beverly Hills, CA, developed this 328,990-square-foot, 26-floor office building that opened in 1967.

Building History

Dan Saxon Palmer, who in 1964 had an office in West Lost Angeles, designed the City National Bank, a building erected by the Buckeye Construction Company. A Los Angeles Times article of 11/18/1964 announced its impending construction: "An $18 million, 26-sotry banking and office building will be built in downtown Los Angeles, it was announced Tuesday by City National Bank and Buckeye Construction Co., both of Beverly Hills. Bram Goldsmith, president of Buckeye Realty and Management Corp., which will operate the building, told a press conference at the Biltmore completion is scheduled for 1966. The structure will be known as the City National Bank Building. It will be built on the corner now occupied by Union Pacific and Mike Lyman's Restaurant. Initially, Goldsmith said, the City National Bank will occupy the three lower floors of the new building and will be its largest tenant." (See "26-Floor Bank Building Set for Downtown L.A.," Los Angeles Times, 11/18/1964, p. A2.) Initially, this high-rise was expected that have been built between 1965 and 1966, although groundbreaking did not occur until 1966, with completion occurring either in 1967 or 1968.

Steelworkers from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation laid the first steel column of the building in mid-May 1965. At this time, the building had signed up 40% of its tenants. The Buckeye Construction Company served as the building's general contractor. Erkel Greenfield Associates served as the project's structural engineer. (See "Bank Building Grows from Top to Bottom," Los Angeles Times, 05/15/1965, p. H2.)

Building Notes

The Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor indicated that the City National Bank Building was completed in 1967. Various sources have indicated that the building had either 24 or 25 stories. The Robhana Group website for the building indicated: "City National Building is a 25-story Class A commercial office building built in 1968. The amenities of the building include: 24-hour security, full service retail bank and ATM, FedEx drop-off box, gated subterranean four-level unreserved, reserved parking and valet, new landscaping, café and sandwich shop, porter services, and on-site management office and building engineers." (See Robhana Group.com, "City National Bank Buildng," accessed 05/14/2019.) The Skyscraper Center.com page for this building set the floor total at 24.

A model of the City National Bank Building was displayed at the Southern California Gas Company Building's lobby between 10/15/1967 and 10/20/1967 as part of the Architecture and Planning Week Exhibition organized by the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce. Models of eleven buildings were displayed at eleven different locations around Downtown Los Angeles during this five-day span. (See "Exhibition to Feature Architecture Models," Los Angeles Times, 10/15/1967, p. O15.)