The skyline of downtown Los Angeles got a lot less colorful in the past few months as crews wiped florid, eye-catching graffiti off the towers of a stalled $1.2-billion real estate development.
City officials joined the buyers of Oceanwide Plaza on Thursday to celebrate the removal of spray-painted graffiti splashed as high as 54 stories that threatened to become an unwelcome icon for the city during the 2028 Olympics as the bankruptcy sale of the hotel, residential and retail complex dragged on for almost two years.
Removing the graffiti was a top priority of the city, which imposed the job on expected buyers KPC Group and Lendlease as a condition of the sale set to close in January. Completion of the project itself is set to begin after that, said KPC executive John Petty.
“This is the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the renaissance,” he said Thursday.
The buyers will complete Oceanwide Plaza as designed, Petty said, with 504 residential units, a luxury hotel and a shopping center in three skyscrapers that stand across Figueroa Street from Crypto.com Arena and the L.A. Live event and entertainment center.
“The original design was amazing, and when it comes to life and actually opens it’s going to just completely transform this area of downtown Los Angeles,” he said.
The original developer, Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings, spent about $1.2 billion on the project before running out of money in 2019 and halting construction at about 60% completion. It will take about another $850 million to finish it, Petty said.
Early in 2024, taggers began turning Oceanwide Plaza’s skyscrapers into canvases for graffiti. BASE jumpers parachuted from its heights, and a performance artist recorded himself teetering along a one-inch-wide slackline strung between two of the property’s 42-story towers.
While some found the graffiti-clad towers an engaging art installation, others including some downtown residents and stakeholders regarded the graffiti as embarrassing blight that sent the message that downtown was a disorderly place where mischief could go unpunished.
Removing the graffiti by hand with with a biodegradable solution was an arduous process that is not quite complete, Petty said. Most of the graffiti was applied by taggers who reached outdoor balconies in the two residential towers, he said, but some of the paint was sprayed on windows by daredevils who sidled from the balconies onto ledges little more than a foot wide.
“Our guys could not remove that safely,” Petty said, so cleaners will next lower themselves on window washing platforms known as swing stages to remove the last of the renegade paint.
“For too long, this property has been a symbol of what was left unfinished,” said Kali Chaudhuri, chairman of KPC Group. “Removing the graffiti is about more than improving the appearance of a building. It’s about restoring pride, rebuilding confidence and demonstrating our commitment to bringing new life to this property.”
After the $517-million bankruptcy sale closes, the developers’ next goal will be to make Oceanwide Plaza — which is expected to be renamed at some point — presentable for the Olympics, Petty said. That includes erecting a massive electronic sign on its facade intended to bring a flavor of Times Square to Figueroa Street.
The sale is contingent securing a construction loan to complete the project and Petty said the developers are negotiating financing terms with domestic institutional and private equity lenders.
“It’s a beautiful project,” Petty said. “It will be the gem in the crown of downtown Los Angeles once people see it come alive.”
“The graffiti removal at Oceanwide Plaza marks a milestone step toward this neglected development finally becoming a transformative asset for Downtown Los Angeles,” Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado said in statement. “Angelenos deserve to see the real benefits this property promises to deliver new housing, jobs, economic opportunity, investment, and energy in the heart of our city.”
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