THE NOT SO GRAND STORY BEHIND THE WILSHIRE GRAND

Not done.  That's right.  All the hype....tallest this, tallest that, first whatever...its all deflated by the reality of a building that's unfinished.  Not ready for prime time.  Not ready for the public.  Its missing signage, unfinished leasehold improvements for the shopping frontage on Fig and worse of all a spooky elevator without buttons that feels like being trapped with Hal in  '2001: A Space Odyssey'.  There's a deep, dark story behind the reason this multi million dollar structure is finished off like a cheap apartment building in a undesirable part of Van Nuys. The court forced them to open - like now
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Trapped in a spooky elevator ride into the clouds:  Note the faux skyline view.  Why not the real?

Clearly, this place got forced open before the finishing touches could be put on it.  Its just not ready to accommodate any serious influx of patrons.

    According to an employee who knows, the contractor had a finish date that got extended not once, not twice, not even less than a dozen times - more times than anyone could count.  Except the courts.  The courts forced the opening with heavy fines, and that clearly shows.  If the place was not open by a that June day the Mayor proclaimed how great it all is - June 23rd - then there would be hell to pay.  Yeah, maybe it WILL BE great, when it gets finished.  Til then, its empty, hostile to pedestrian traffic and just plain unfinished.

On my recent Friday afternoon pedestrian visit entering from that grand entrance off Fig, I expected to see the grandeur of a press photo - like below - note the people replicas scurrying below:

Instead, what I saw was and desolate entrance to nothing - without one inviting sign or friendly indicator that the building was even open, let alone, ready for business.  You kept wanting to turn around at every step up from the street because the place looked abandoned.

 On a Friday afternoon, you would expect the bar  on the 70th floor should be humming 'cause of the view, and tourist should have been streaming in, and the ground floor should have been packed with folks drinking and eating at the open eateries.  But  nothing was happening.  Here's one of LA's newest most exciting tourists attractions and no one at the street level even knows its open.  No signage. Nothing that invites a pedestrian in.

   Not many folks visiting  for a space meant to be crowded.  Photos below are at  3 pm on a  Friday afternoon:

And the InterContinental Hotel has no check-ins:

And the bar's empty too:

Could be a good thing.  Forget the signable and the normal crass commercialism tailored at inviting folks in and being friendly.  Stay cold and forbidding Wilshire Grand.  I like an empty spot to take a date or an out of towner who thinks LA is overcrowded.  Let's keep this a secret kinda place - even if it is the tallest whatever, whatever.  I like it empty.