Downtown Los Angeles' most notorious unfinished high-rises, the three Oceanwide Plaza towers that have turned into a towering graffiti gallery after repeated construction stoppages, finally appear to have a serious suitor. A development group tied to Riverside-based KPC and the project's original contractor has filed a court-supervised purchase plan that pegs the full block at roughly $470 million. The would-be buyers say their first moves, if the bankruptcy court signs off, will be stripping the tagging and getting construction crews back on site.
The purchase plan and who is behind it
Oceanwide Plaza's debtor has executed a purchase-and-sale agreement that names KPC Square LLC, a new joint venture formed by affiliates of Oceanwide's senior creditors together with Lendlease, as the proposed buyer, according to a press release from Hilco Global. Industry reporting indicates the $470 million price tag would be covered mostly by a roughly $400 million credit bid from secured lenders, plus about $70 million in cash that is earmarked to pay certain administrative expenses of the bankruptcy estate, according to Bisnow.
How much is left to build and what it could cost
Marketing materials and an appraisal filed in the case say the three towers are only about 60 percent complete, and brokerage firm Colliers has estimated it would take roughly $865 million more to finish construction. The original plan called for a three-tower mixed-use complex with hotel rooms, more than 500 residences, over 160,000 square feet of retail space and a 40,000-square-foot event center, and those legacy blueprints are expected to guide any reworked plan, according to the Los Angeles Times.
City Hall watches and pushes for a cleanup
A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass' office said the city is "eager to see an expeditious close" and wants the block cleaned up ahead of major events on the horizon, according to the court-broker announcement. Local business groups are also pressing the prospective owners to secure the site and scrub away the graffiti quickly, arguing that the idle towers have become both an eyesore and a safety concern for the South Park neighborhood, as reported by Hilco Global.
Bankruptcy timeline and who gets paid
The proposed sale is wrapped into a Chapter 11 liquidation plan that still needs federal court approval. The disclosure statement and related filings set a confirmation hearing for April 9 and give creditors until March 20 to vote on the plan or file objections. The documents spell out a payment waterfall in which secured tax claims, debtor-in-possession financing and administrative and priority claims are paid first, language that signals existing equity holders will receive nothing and that many unsecured contractors may see little or no cash recovery, according to CoStar News.
What KPC says happens on day one
KPC Development's leader has said removing the graffiti will be a top priority and that the team intends to stick with the original mixed-use program while updating it for current market conditions, according to industry coverage. The firm is already finishing a large hotel project near SoFi Stadium, a point KPC cites as proof it can handle a complicated downtown rescue. Local reporting indicates that work to remediate and restart the towers could begin a few months after court approval and once the necessary city permits are secured, according to Commercial Observer.
What this could mean for downtown LA
The half-built block has stood as a highly visible symbol of downtown's development troubles since construction stopped in 2019, and a confirmed sale would test whether lenders and opportunistic local developers can turn a headline-grabbing problem site into active space before the 2028 Olympics. For now, the plan sets a clear timetable and a baseline price. Whether the court approves this deal or a higher bidder comes in will determine how soon the towers shed their spray-paint skin and rejoin the Los Angeles skyline, as noted by the Los Angeles Times.
