CA: NOTORIOUS GRAFFITI HIGH RISE CLEANUP BEGINS
Click here for updates on this story
LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — It’s been six years since construction at the downtown Los Angeles Oceanwide Plaza halted, leaving the sprawling, half-finished site a canvas for graffiti artists and earning it the name Graffiti Towers — an eyesore for many in the area.
Today, cleanup of the graffiti began as the new owners of the 1.5 million-square-foot complex on S Flower St. received final approval of a sale agreement from the bankruptcy court just 24 hours ago.
John Petty, KPC Group director of real estate and construction, said they promised to be out removing graffiti within 30 days, but are already on cleanup duty.
“So we’re trying to do our best to meet our obligations to the city of Los Angeles, and we think that within a very short period of time, we promised 90 days, but we think it’ll be sooner that the graffiti will be completely removed from Oceanwide Plaza,” Petty said.
He said the joint venture between KPC Group and Lendlease will complete the Oceanwide Plaza project as originally designed, with large residential units and retail space, since permits are already in place.
“We decided early on we’ll take it as it was originally designed and complete it as quickly as possible,” Petty said.
He said the ground floor includes 153,000 square feet of retail, half of which is new food and beverage.
“The average branded residence on top of Tower One is 2,200 square feet, and the average residential units in Towers Two and Three are 1,435 square feet, which is large for this marketplace,” Petty said. In all, there will be 504 condominiums and a 184-room hotel on the site.
Petty said the construction’s integrity is good, and the evaluation of the plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems will now take place.
To keep the graffiti at bay, security at the site will be enhanced with 24/7 guards, barbed-wire fencing, and perimeter laser beams for intruder detection.
Petty estimated the occupation of Oceanwide Plaza is expected in late 2028. “We’re thinking by January of 2028, the average person looking across the street will basically see a substantially completed ground floor project,” Petty said.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.