KOREATOWN : Commission OKs Plans for Office, Hotel Tower

The city Planning Commission approved plans Thursday for building a $100-million, 25-story office and hotel tower in Koreatown.

The proposed Pacific Trade Center, to be built at Olympic Boulevard and Western Avenue, will include a 232-room hotel, offices for trading companies and retail shops. The Korean-American developers of the 587,000-square-foot building say it will enhance Los Angeles’ position as a Pacific Rim trading center, but opponents say the project will generate too much traffic and hurt small businesses.

The project still needs the approval of the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee and the entire council.