Korean Air is bringing a Korean barbecue tenant to Wilshire Grand: sources

UPDATED, 2:46 a.m., May 24: Korean Air’s $1.2 billion development in Downtown Los Angeles will, rather appropriately, include a Korean barbecue joint, The Real Deal has learned.

The decision to seek out a Korean barbecue tenant for the 73-story Wilshire Grand development was made at a corporate level, involving both the development company Korean Air and its parent company, Hanjin Group, according to a spokesperson for the project.

The roughly 10,000-square-foot restaurant space in the plaza of the building will be one of three in the Wilshire Grand development, said sources at the International Council of Shopping Center’ annual Las Vegas convention on Monday. The second restaurant, La Boucherie, will be part of the 900-room Intercontinental hotel at the top of the development. The third food tenant is not yet known.

When completed, the Wilshire Grand will be 1,100-feet tall and will include the hotel, more than 365,100 square feet of office space, 45,100 square feet of a retail space, outdoor areas and a sky lobby with views of the city. There will also be an infinity pool.

Cushman & Wakefield is leasing the building.

“This building will be incredible,” John Cushman III, chairman of global transactions at Cushman & Wakefield, told The Real Deal earlier this year. “From the last (big office tower Downtown) that was built to this building, when it is completed, it will have been 24 years. So technology on everything has changed: structural, mechanical.”

The Wilshire Grand development, which is slated to open in early 2017, will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

Correction: This story has been updated from an earlier version to reflect the fact that Korean Air and Hanjin wanted to bring in a Korean barbecue tenant. It had previously cited the Chairman, Cho Yang-ho, himself.