Two abandoned downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers, dubbed the “graffiti towers,” are finally getting cleaned up, but not without Mayor Karen Bass taking some heat for letting the site become the city’s towering symbol of urban decay.
Critics have cited the skyscrapers as an example of the city’s decline — joining homeless encampments, widespread littering, open illegal drug use, and a general lack of nuisance enforcement under her administration.
One news outlet was particularly brutal in its coverage of Bass, who heads America’s second largest city behind New York.
“She let criminals run riot over $1bn skyscraper development for YEARS. Now LA’s mayor has the audacity to hail the clean-up of city’s infamous ‘graffiti towers,’” was the headline Sunday in the Daily Mail.
The ambitious Oceanwide development had its beginnings a decade ago a Chinese company named Oceanwide Holdings bought the lot across from the Crypto.com Arena for $1.2 billion.
An aerial view of colorful graffiti spray-painted an abandoned real estate project in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The company planned luxury condos and a hotel on the site. However, work ceased in 2019 after the Chinese government cut back on overseas investments and Oceanwide ran out of funds.
The city has attempted to solve the matter in bankruptcy court, as the desolate towers remained empty for years while vandals scaled the structure and covered the development with floor after floor of huge tags.
The site also became a destination for thrill seekers who filmed stunts like base jumping and tightrope walking, resulting in dozens of arrests, news outlets have reported.
According to the Mail:
Mayor Karen Bass enhanced a police presence in the area and blocked off access to the towers in 2024, but the development stood as a visual reminder of LA’s economic woes. Signs of hope for an end to the madness came earlier this month when the city withdrew its objections to a modified bankruptcy plan proposed by a new buyer. Although the site was initially bought for $1.2 billion, the new buyer purchased the towers for $470 million.
With the incumbent mayor trying to hold onto her post in November’s general election against upstart city councilwoman Nithya Raman, Bass appears to be focusing quality of life conditions that have led to the city’s decline for the past two decades.
“Oceanwide Plaza sits at the center of one of Downtown Los Angeles’ most important economic corridors, linking the Convention Center, Crypto.com Arena, LA LIVE, and the broader South Park district,” Bass said in a statement earlier in the week.
She continued, “Completing this project is about far more than finishing a building. It’s about restoring confidence, reconnecting a vital commercial corridor, and unlocking the economic potential of one of the city’s most strategic destinations ahead of a transformative decade for Los Angeles.”
Officials have been under pressure to clean up the streets ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the city’s widespread street blight the leading issue in Spencer Pratt’s unsuccessful mayoral primary campaign.
KPC Development Co emerged as a potential buyer of the structures earlier this year, with the properties previously developing commercial properties in California and India.
Despite its interest to develop the towers into a hotel and residential structure, the sale had been stalled in bankruptcy court since April as the city struggled to agree on terms, according to the Mail.
“City attorneys withdrew their objections on Monday, conceding that KPC had agreed to ‘meaningful improvements’ that serve the interests of downtown residents,” the Mail reported.
Among the terms of the agreement was the immediate removal of graffiti within 30 days.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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