Hollywood’s largest union made a landmark announcement Thursday. The historic Museum Square building at 5757 Wilshire Boulevard on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles has been renamed SAG-AFTRA Plaza.
The new name for the building, home to the offices of the recently merged media and entertainment unions since the 1990s, was unveiled during a dedication ceremony Thursday afternoon. New SAG-AFTRA Plaza signage was formally unveiled, including a 46-by-40-foot rendering of the union’s brand, created by branding firm Siegel+Gale.
“This is a proud moment for SAG-AFTRA members in Los Angeles and around the country,” SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard said. “To see SAG-AFTRA Plaza lit up along this beautiful boulevard, in the heart of Los Angeles, is evidence of our tight-knit bond with the Wilshire Boulevard community and the Miracle Mile. It is a fitting home for our national headquarters and Los Angeles Local.”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White, SAG Foundation President JoBeth Williams, Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge and Jerome Snyder of Oschin Snyder Partnership, which owns 5757 Wilshire Blvd., addressed approximately 300 attendees.
“Renaming this building SAG-AFTRA Plaza is a momentous occasion for our union,” White said. “Both legacy unions called 5757 Wilshire home since the 1990s. Following our merger in 2012, we considered finding a new location, but after a thorough review, we found no other location better served the union’s needs.”
The building opened on Nov. 15 in 1948 as Prudential Square, housing more than 1,200 employees of the western office of Prudential Insurance Company. It was designed by famed architects Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket and was the tallest and largest privately owned building in the city when it opened.
Over the years, 5757 Wilshire has housed a department store and a classical music station, KFAC. A piece of the Rock of Gibraltar — the symbol of Prudential — is located in the ground floor lobby. In 1982, Prudential moved to a larger location and 5757 became known as Museum Square.
In 1993, Screen Actors Guild moved its national headquarters into the building and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artist’s followed in 1997.
The naming of SAG-AFTRA Plaza is part of the lease agreement between the union and Oschin Snyder Partnership signed in January 2014. The lease agreement combined the two legacy leases of AFTRA and SAG into one lease and extends it to 2026. SAG-AFTRA will retain naming rights to the building for the term of the lease.
Commercial real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield administered the deal.