OEMs handling projects in San Francisco, L.A.

KONE Providing 38 Units for San Francisco Venue Expansion

KONE is providing 12 elevators and 26 escalators for the expansion of the Moscone Center, a convention center in San Francisco that hosts up to 1.1 million visitors annually. The order consists of seven MonoSpace®, two EcoSystem MR®, two freight and one EcoSpace® elevator, and 26 TravelMaster 110TM escalators. The project will be done in phases, and the facility will remain open throughout the expansion, scheduled for completion in 2018.

KONE has a long relationship with the Moscone Center, including installing the first EcoModTM units in the U.S. there in 2003. It is expected KONE’s latest energy-efficient installations will help the center achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification.

Wilshire Grand, West Coast’s Tallest, Tops Out in L.A.

Those working on the Wilshire Grand Center (ELEVATOR WORLD April 2013, January 2014 and October 2015), which at 1,100 ft. will be the tallest building west of Chicago upon completion, celebrated a milestone in March with a topping-out ceremony at the site on the corner of Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles in March, the Los Angeles Times reported. The event marked completion of the 892-ft.-tall concrete core. Otis and Prysmian are among companies providing the building’s vertical-transportation system, and Turner Construction is the general contractor. Owned by Korean Airlines, the Wilshire Grand will house 900 hotel rooms and 400,000 sq. ft. of office space, and is scheduled for completion exactly one year from the topping out, on March 8, 2017. That date is the birthday of Yang Ho Cho, chairman of Hanjin International Corp., which owns Korean Airlines.

Luxury High Rise on Edge of Beverly Hills

Ten Thousand, a 40-story luxury residential high rise at 10000 Santa Monica Boulevard on the edge of Century City and Beverly Hills, is expected to open in summer 2016, Real Estate News Television reported. The glittery building was designed by Handel Architects and will offer not only floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies for its residents, but also amenities such as a designer gym and concierge services. Crescent Heights, which has done other projects in cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco, is the developer.

33-Story Tower Planned in Oakland

Lennar Corp. plans to break ground by the end of 2016 on a 33-story, 380-ft.-tall residential tower across the bay from San Francisco in Oakland, San Francisco Business Times reported. Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, the building would be among the tallest in Oakland and contain approximately 250 market-rate residences, retail and parking. It is part of a wave of residential construction underway in the city and would be located at 1640 Broadway, a mere half block from a Bay Area Rapid Transit station.