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Mayor Eric Garcetti stood before 900 workers at the downtown Wilshire Grand construction site early Monday morning and said "You ain't seen nothing yet." "This town is not only rising physically," Garcetti said, "but we're rising spiritually."
Upon completion, the Wilshire Grand Tower will be the tallest structure west of the Mississippi, soaring 1100 feet above ground.
"Our soul is reborn in this town," Garcetti said. "We can see that from what we're doing."
A view of the freeway from the 69th floor of the Wilshire Grand construction site. (Image by Julia Wick)
According to Garcetti, the tower will be completed in ten months. The 73-story skyscraper will host the 900-room InterContinental Los Angeles along with restaurants and businesses. Workers have already logged 2,664,472 job hours at the site. Speaking to the crowd—a sea of hard hats and day-glo orange and yellow vests—just after 6 a.m. at the construction site's weekly all-hands meeting, Garcetti applauded the use of union labor. "If you want to get a job done right, you do it union," he said.
"I just came here to say thank you on behalf of a grateful city," Garcetti told the crowd before pausing for selfies with a crowd of construction workers. Garcetti and a handful of media representatives then boarded a hoist up to the 69th floor for a preview of the building. See pictures from the construction site and views from the 69th floor in the gallery above.
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