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Building History

Robert F. Maguire III of Maguire Properties has been given credit for the innovative real estate deal that allowed the 72-story First Interstate World Center to be built while providing money for the renovation of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's nearby Los Angeles Public Library Main Branch. First Interstate Bank was founded in 1958, and was known under several names before changing its name to First Interstate in 1981. During a period of significant instability in Southern California banking, Wells Fargo and Company purchased First Interstate in 01-02/1996; in order to complete the sale, the U. S. Justice Department and the State of California required that Wells Fargo divest itself of 61 First Interstate branches. From 1989-present, New York architect, I.M. Pei (born 1917), has designed the two tallest buildings west of the Mississippi River. Maguire Properties, which erected the building, continued to own it in 2011, but had been renamed the "MPG Office Trust, Incorporated." In 2011, the US Bank occupied space on the tower's 1st, 24th, 25th, 29th and 30th floors.

Building Notes

The tower was also known as the "Library Tower, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA," and the "US Bank Tower."

Net rentable square feet: 1,371,538 (2003); in 2007, this figure had changed to 1,374,883; at 72 stories and 310 meters (1,018 feet), this is the tallest office building west of the Mississippi River, just edging out I.M. Pei's Texas Commerce Tower (later known as the J.P. Morgan Chase Tower) (305 m., 1,002 feet) in Houston, TX; owned (2003) by Maguire Properties, 555 West 5th Street Suite 5000, Los Angeles, CA, 90013-1010; 213.626.3300 main; First Interstate is the second tallest skyscraper located in a seismically-active location, the first being the mammoth 509 m. (1,671 feet) Taipei 101 Building, (C.Y. Lee and Partners, Taipei, Taiwan, 2004). The Los Angeles tower was designed to withstand a tremor of 8.3 magnitude. Some sources list the skyscraper as having 73 stories. The owner's web site, MGP Office Trust, however, stated that the building contained 72 stories. (SeeAccessed 05/13/2011.) The 1st Interstate Bank World Center won the California Geotechnical Engineers Association's "Outstanding Project Award" in 1989, and was awarded the Los Angeles Business Council's "Beautification Award" in the New Commercial High Rise Category in 1990.

PCAD id: 1259