West Coast is the best coast, but when it comes to tall buildings, Los Angeles has us beat. We do have the 11th largest building in the United States, the U.S. Bank building pictured in the lead, but soon we’ll have the tallest building in the west–a $1 billion dollar hotel and office skyscraper to be be developed by, weirdly, Korean Airlines. It will be unveiled in 2017.

“The new Wilshire Grand is an investment that makes sense and we are excited to continue our relationship with this great city,” said Korean Air Chairman Y.H. Cho.

Why does an airline want to build a 73-story glass-covered giant tower in Downtown Los Angeles on Wilshire and Fig? Apparently to solidify South Korea’s economic credibility or to build a giant escape rocket when the zombie invasion starts.

That’s what we’d do if we had a billion dollars and owned a major airline. Yep. Undercover rocket.

–Nadia Noir, CBS Radio Los Angeles