Oceanwide Plaza Acquired for $470 Million: Major Real Estate Deal Reshapes Downtown Los Angeles

After six long years of dominating the Los Angeles skyline with an unfinished and graffiti-covered presence, the notorious “graffiti towers” have finally found a new owner. A potential sale is set to bring a fresh chapter to the beleaguered Oceanwide Plaza.

Real estate tycoon Kali Chaudhuri is preparing to purchase the development for a reported $470 million. The site, languishing incomplete since 2019 due to financial complications, now stands on the brink of transformation under Chaudhuri’s leadership.

Although completing the project will require an estimated additional investment of $1 billion, Chaudhuri has promised to rejuvenate the site, ambitiously declaring his intention to create “the jewel of downtown LA.”

The three towers, situated right across from Crypto.com Arena, were left in limbo when the original developers exhausted their funding with construction only 60% complete. The unfinished structure became a canvas for graffiti artists in 2024 and even tempted base jumpers to leap from its heights.

Chaudhuri, who owns a portfolio of commercial properties in both California and India, expressed his enthusiasm for the project to the LA Times, stating, “I’m very excited.”

Riverside-based Chaudhuri, who owns commercial spaces in California and India, told the LA Times: “I’m very excited.

“I’ll try my very best to turn it around and make it the jewel of downtown LA.” He added that stripping off the graffiti would be his “first priority.”

His company KPC Development, which is also building a $300 million hotel next to SoFi Stadium, wants to complete the plans the previous owners had.

It includes turning the sprawling space into homes, a hotel, shops and dining facilities. There will also be a huge wrap around LED screen near the bottom.

The proposal, etched out on Monday, will go through if no higher offer is received by April 9 and providing due diligence checks and construction plans are accepted, which could take months.

The site had been owned by Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings since 2014 when work began, but they run out of cash partly due to the Chinese Communist Party squeezing investment outside of China.

LA Mayor Karen Bass said: “With the resurgence of our Downtown and as we prepare to host Olympic and Paralympic events right across the street, I look forward to working with the new ownership to transform this plaza into something that spurs further investment — and that Angelenos can be proud of.”