Oceanwide Plaza's 'Graffiti Towers' Are Nearly Scrubbed Clean as Buyers Race to Close the Sale and Finish by 2028

KPC Group and Lendlease cleared tags from about 250 balconies in 90 days; now they need a construction loan and permits before a Jan. 22 closing deadline to finish the stalled $1.2 billion project.

By Herald Staff · Nov. 13, 2026, 8:30 AM ET

Illustration of three unfinished glass and concrete skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles at sunrise, with bare balconies, a tall construction crane and a small window-washing platform hanging from one tower, above a palm-lined boulevard with light traffic and the downtown skyline in the hazy background. — Crews have removed graffiti from about 250 balconies at Oceanwide Plaza, the stalled three-tower complex across Figueroa Street from Crypto.com Arena, and are using swing stages to clean the last windows.

DOWNTOWN — For more than two and a half years, the three unfinished towers across Figueroa Street from Crypto.com Arena were the most photographed eyesore in downtown Los Angeles, their balconies and windows covered in spray paint as high as 54 stories up. On Thursday, the companies lined up to buy Oceanwide Plaza stood with city leaders to mark the end of that chapter: the graffiti is almost entirely gone.

Removing it was a condition the city placed on the expected buyers, KPC Group and Lendlease, before the bankruptcy sale of the hotel, residential and retail complex closes, the Los Angeles Times reported. That sale is set to close in January, and work to finish the project would begin after that, KPC executive John Petty told the paper.

"This is the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the renaissance," Petty said Thursday.

Balcony by Balcony

The cleanup was done largely by hand. In a statement, Mayor Karen Bass's office said crews for KPC Development and Lendlease cleared graffiti from roughly 250 balconies across the three towers, at times working from window-washing platforms 35 stories above the street. Bass said she had secured a commitment from the new owners to clean the site before any other work moved forward.

The Los Angeles Business Journal reported that in a July court filing, the city said the KPC-Lendlease joint venture, KPC Square, had agreed to start removal right after the sale was confirmed and finish within 90 days. Petty told the Business Journal the crews finished the 250th balcony at 4 p.m. on Oct. 20, "exactly 90 days" later. Some balconies took an hour and others four or five, he said, because taggers had layered tags on tags, sprayed primer first or sealed their work with a clear coat. KPC settled on products from East Los Angeles-based World's Greatest Graffiti Removal Products after testing several.

The job is not quite finished. Some paint was sprayed on windows by daredevils who edged out from balconies onto ledges little more than a foot wide, and Petty told the Times, "Our guys could not remove that safely." Cleaners are using swing stages lowered from the roof to remove the last of it. Graffiti on interior walls, including in the parking garage, will stay for a while, the Business Journal reported.

What Comes Next

The original developer, Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings, spent about $1.2 billion on the project before running out of money in 2019 and halting construction at about 60% completion, according to the Times. Petty said it will take roughly another $850 million to finish it. The buyers plan to complete it as designed, with 504 residential units, a luxury hotel and a shopping center, and to add a large electronic sign on its facade meant to bring a bit of Times Square to Figueroa Street.

Reports describe the price differently. The Times and ABC7 put the bankruptcy sale at $517 million. The Business Journal described it as a credit bid of about $400 million in debt plus up to $70 million in cash. KPC entered the case by buying the property's $230 million senior loan from the fund that raised money for the project through the federal EB-5 immigrant investor program.

The deal still has hurdles. According to the Business Journal, the court's confirmation order requires KPC and Lendlease to close by Jan. 22, and before then KPC needs a construction loan, a construction contract and approved permits. The order also lets KPC walk away if it decides the development "is not economically viable as entitled." Petty told the Times the developers are negotiating financing terms with domestic institutional and private equity lenders. Officials hope to have the complex finished before the Olympics in the summer of 2028.

City leaders framed the cleanup as a turning point for the neighborhood around L.A. Live and the Convention Center. "We wanted to make sure that not a single dime more of taxpayer funds would be used to clean this up," Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said, CBS Los Angeles reported. The city had paid for perimeter fencing, removal of sidewalk scaffolding and ground security to keep trespassers off the towers.

"For too long, this property has been a symbol of what was left unfinished," KPC Group chairman Kali Chaudhuri said, according to the Times. "Removing the graffiti is about more than improving the appearance of a building."

The complex is expected to get a new name at some point. For now, the towers Angelenos nicknamed after their spray paint no longer quite live up to it.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the office of Mayor Karen Bass, CBS Los Angeles and ABC7, as linked above.