New Skyscrapers in L.A. and S.F. Tell Tall Tales About California

The Wilshire Grand and Salesforce Towers Show Corporations Still Sway the Golden State

This is a tale of two new skyscrapers—and of two cities that have more in common than they care to admit.

The Wilshire Grand Center towers 73 stories and 1,100 feet over downtown Los Angeles, making it the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. A project of the conglomerate that owns Korean Air, it opened this summer.

In San Francisco, the Salesforce Tower, which takes its name from the cloud computing giant that will be its signature tenant, rises 61 stories and 1,070 feet over the South of Market district. …