A buyer has emerged for the long-stalled Oceanwide Plaza mixed-use development in downtown Los Angeles’ South Park neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reported. Corona-based KPC Development Co. and its partner Lendlease, the original contractor on the project, filed an initial purchase agreement in federal bankruptcy court Monday that establishes a baseline price of $470 million for the complex. A sale could be approved by April 9.
“I’m very excited,” KPC founder and chairman Kali P. Chaudhuri told the Times. “I’ll try my very best to turn it around and make it the jewel of downtown L.A.”
Chinese developer Oceanwide Holdings acquired a parking lot across from what is now Crypto.com Arena in 2014 and began work on a three-tower complex intended to house luxury condominiums and apartments, and a five-star hotel supported by upmarket retail. Plans also called for a massive electronic sign intended to help bring a Times Square flavor to DTLA’s Figueroa Street.
Construction stalled in 2019 as Oceanwide ran into financial difficulties and the Chinese government restricted the flow of outbound investment. Lendlease, among the project’s creditors, filed a petition to put Oceanwide Plaza into involuntary bankruptcy in 2024.
The unfinished complex, which Chaudhuri plans to rename, gained notoriety as “Graffiti Towers,” a nickname arising from the splashy graffiti displays put there by taggers. An April 2024 appraisal by Colliers estimated the as-is market value of the complex at nearly $434 million. Colliers also projected a cost of $865 million to complete the buildings, which are 60% finished, although other industry estimates to reach $1 billion.
Chaudhuri told the Times his first priority will be to remove the graffiti once due diligence is completed and the project receives approvals from the city. The plan is to complete the project as it was originally envisioned.
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