Skip to main content

September 1968 - Union Bank Building, L.A.'s First Modern Skyscraper Completed

Support Provided By
Bunker Hill Victorian house called The Castle
Bunker Hill Victorian house called The Castle stands in front of 42-story Union Bank building in in 1966. | Photo: Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive/UCLA Library, Digital Collections/Creative Commons License

In September 1968, the 40-story Union Bank Building opened as Los Angeles' first modern skyscraper, the first part of downtown L.A.'s growing skyline.

The 515-foot tall building, designed by the local architecture firm Albert C. Martin and Associates was the first building to surpass the height of the 454-foot-tall City Hall Building (of which Martin was also one of the architects), built 40 years prior, giving rise to subsequent high-rise developments in downtown L.A. that created the skyline we see today.

In 1903, Los Angeles enacted a 13-story height restriction on all buildings, exempted only by the 28-story City Hall that lasted until 1956, when city voters modified the height law by making the restrictions adhere to a floor area ratio that instead limited it to no more than 13 times the size of the lot.

The Union Bank Building was also the first new structure built in the controversial Bunker Hill Redevelopment plan which razed a dilapidated, though once tony, neighborhood of historic buildings and replaced it with modern highrise developments.

The building was renovated in 1994 and is now the 20th tallest building in Los Angeles.

Support Provided By
Read More
Members of Jacques Cousteau's team readies the famed explorer for a dive

The 1970s: Cousteau's Odyssey Continues

To a very small degree, I have done my best to follow in the footsteps of Jacques Cousteau.
The view from atop Mount Wilson. Catalina Island can be seen top left, and the downtown Los Angeles skyline is visible far right. The entire city of Pasadena is visible in the lower half of the picture. | Photo: Elson Trinidad

Transmitting Live from Mount Wilson: How KCET's Signal Comes to You

Keeping KCET running on the air, which requires a lot of electricity, a lot of equipment, and a lot of backup systems.
Zarii Arri

Zarii Arri: Teach Our Children to be Nice

Zarii Arri moved to California for acting and ice skating.