City National Plaza is a twin tower skyscraper complex on South Flower Street in western Downtown Los Angeles, California. It was originally named ARCO Plaza upon opening in 1972.HistoryRichfield TowerThe present complex is on the site of the landmark Richfield Tower, that was designed in the Art Deco style by Morgan, Walls & Clements, and completed in 1929. It was the headquarters of the Atlantic Richfield Oil company. It was demolished in 1969.ARCO PlazaThe current skyscraper complex was built as the ARCO Plaza, with a pair of 213.3m 52-story office towers. One became the new world headquarters for the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), the present day The Paul Hastings Tower. An underground shopping complex was accessed by open escalators from the street level plaza.Upon completion in 1972, the ARCO Plaza towers were the tallest buildings in the city for one year before being overtaken by Aon Center, and were the tallest twin towers in the world until the completion of the World Trade Center in New York City. The towers are the tallest twin buildings in the United States outside of New York City, where the 55-floor Time Warner Center stands at 750ft.
