Downtown’s infamous Graffiti Towers might finally get a power wash this summer.
Developers reached a deal Monday with Los Angeles city officials to take the stalled $1.2 billion luxury residential development, known as Oceanwide Plaza, out of bankruptcy and begin erasing its anarchic 45-story spray paint canvas within the next 30 days, according to a liquidation plan confirmed July 20 by a U.S. bankruptcy court judge in California.
Oceanwide Plaza’s $470 million liquidation plan sets a clock for Chinese conglomerate Oceanwide Holdings to hand the keys over to stalking horse bidder KPC Square, a joint venture between Kali Chaudhuri’s Corona-based KPC Group and Australia-based Lendlease, the original general contractor for the project at 1101 S. Flower St.
The partners placed a bid to take over the project in February that took months to iron out. It faced objections from the city lawyers and competition from back-up bidders.
Now, KPC needs to secure financing and meet a new series of deadlines to close the deal, which is comprised of a $400 million credit bid and $70 million in cash.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Monday she looks forward to a swift closing and the “proposed buyer delivering on their commitments.”
“Completing this project is about far more than finishing a building,” Bass said. “It’s about restoring confidence, reconnecting a vital commercial corridor and unlocking the economic potential of one of the city’s most strategic destinations.”
Oceanwide’s megaproject got underway more than a decade ago amid a wave of Chinese foreign investment in Los Angeles and other major U.S. real estate markets. But that dried up amid a growing trade war and capital controls from Beijing. Construction stalled in 2019, leaving a steel and glass husk that attracted trespassers, graffiti artists, and daredevil acts like tightrope walkers and base jumpers who leapt from the structure’s top floors.
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit L.A.’s commercial real estate market, the towers had become an eyesore and a symbol of the decline of the central business district.
