5900 Wilshire

5900 Wilshire
Alternative names SBE Building
General information
Status Complete
Type Commercial offices
Architectural style Modernism
Location 5900 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
Coordinates 34°03′49″N 118°21′32″W / 34.063699°N 118.358781°WCoordinates: 34°03′49″N 118°21′32″W / 34.063699°N 118.358781°W
Construction started 1968
Completed 1971
Owner The Ratkovich Company
Height
Roof 135.18 m (443.5 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 32
Floor area 491,000 sq ft (45,600 m2)
Design and construction
Architect William L. Pereira & Associates
Welton Becket and Associates
References
[1][2][3][4]

5900 Wilshire, or the SBE Building, is a 32-story 132 m (433 ft) skyscraper completed in 1971 in Los Angeles, California. It is the tallest building in the Miracle Mile district, the second tallest in the Wilshire Area, and the 30th tallest in Los Angeles. The international-style building was designed by architect Gin Wong of William L. Pereira & Associates. The building, which includes tenants occupying entire floors all the way down to executive suites, is across Wilshire Boulevard from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Ratkovich Company spent $34 million on a renovation which began in 2005 and was still in process in the second quarter of 2008. The renovation will include a new lobby. The placement of a bus zone across the street at LACMA and the subsequent removal of the crosswalk that would have fed traffic to a proposed cafe caused a rethinking of those plans. It was built for the Mutual Benefit Life by the Shorenstein Co. of San Francisco. The 491,000-square-foot (45,600 m2) building was acquired by The Ratkovich Company in December 2005.

In December 2008, the building became the official westcoast headquarters for the entertainment newspaper Variety. The newspaper's name adorned the top of the building's north face in red letters until late 2013.[5]

In 2014, SBE, founded by hotel and club impresario Sam Nazarian, agreed to lease the top two floors of 5900 Wilshire.

Berlin wall segments

In the building's front lawn is a memorial to the Berlin Wall, containing ten original segments. Together, they form the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall in the United States. The segments were installed in 2009 by the Wende Museum. The installation included temporarily walling Wilshire Boulevard in commemoration of the wall's removal.[6]

See also

References

External links