In 1950, the city of Los Angeles issued the largest single building permit at the time for the construction of the hotel, which cost over $15 million.

It is also part of an urban development effort to revitalize the Figueroa Street corridor of downtown Los Angeles as a vibrant light-and-sign district, similar to New York's Times Square.

[16][17] Demolition of the original building began on October 23, 2012, and continued for over a year until November 21, 2013, when a bottoming-out ceremony was held in the 106-foot pit (32 m) excavated for the towers.

[28][29][30] The tower will spearhead part of a new planned light and sign district that will extend along the Figueroa Corridor down to L.A. Live.

[12] Lead designer David C. Martin said that the spire and the entire exterior skin of the tower will be filled with programmable LED lighting.

The four double-deck express cars servicing the hotel's main lobby on the 70th floor travel at 1,600 feet per minute (490 m/min).

The latter began on February 15, 2014, with a record 21,600 cu yd (16,500 m3) pour of concrete in just 20 hours,[a] creating an 18-foot-thick (5 m) base for what would become the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

[2] The foundation is set on bedrock known as the Fernando Formation; this siltstone has been compressed by an ocean that formerly covered the area and is a good base for a building.

[21] The topping out ceremony was held on March 8, 2016,[38] and when the spire was placed on September 3, the Wilshire Grand became the tallest building in Los Angeles at 1,100 feet.

From the vantage of the building's 73rd floor observation deck, the US Bank Tower is markedly higher in elevation, and remains downtown Los Angeles' most prominent visual landmark.