City Council approves $3.8 million to clean up and secure painted skyscraper in downtown LA

Los Angeles, CA, Thursday, February 1, 2024 – Taggers have created graffiti on what appears to be more than 25 floors of a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper that has been dormant for several years. Construction of Oceanwide Plaza, a $1 billion mixed-use retail and luxury apartment project with three towering unfinished buildings, stalled in January 2019 after the Beijing-based developer lacked the resources to complete it. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

City Council approves $3.8 million to clean up and secure painted skyscraper in downtown LA

LA Politics, Homepage News

Summer Lin
Caroline Petrow-Cohen

February 16, 2024

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to allocate nearly $4 million to remove graffiti and secure an unfinished skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles that has been badly ravaged in recent weeks.

Councilor Kevin de Len submitted a motion this week to provide the resources to secure the financing

real estate development

and restore the public right-of-way, which is obstructed by plastic barriers, scaffolding and

other

debris.

“I’m not holding my breath waiting for the developer to clean up his property,” De Len said Wednesday. The purpose of my motion is clear: to prepare our city for decisive action if the developer of Oceanwide Plaza ignores their responsibility and leaves them on the hook for the city’s costs.

The motion directs $1.1 million into a fund to shield and secure the ground floor of the building, and a further $2.7 million into a fund for security services, improving fire safety and abatement graffiti.

The motion also calls on the city attorney and city manager to report to the City Council within 30 days with a legal strategy to recover all related costs from the city from property owners.

The Oceanwide Plaza project, located

an unfinished development

about

the

Crypto.com Arena’s Figueroa Street has become a spot for graffiti tagging and even paragliding in recent weeks, causing headaches for city officials and authorities alike. Before the Grammy Awards to be held in

the

Crypto.com Arena, dozens of floors of the skyscraper were tagged with colorful spray paint.

The owner, Oceanwide Holdings, is a listed Beijing company that halted the project in 2019 when it ran out of money.

At least 18 people have been arrested, including 12 on Sunday, on suspicion of trespassing, according to Los Angeles police.

The city council passed a motion earlier this month, also submitted by De Len, that orders the owners of the property to fence off and clean the site by Saturday. If they miss the deadline, the city will secure the property and charge the owners the costs, the motion said.

Just one day before the deadline, that

property.property

owners have not indicated this

or

they will follow the orders of the city.

The increase in activity at the

property

website has that too

stretched out

resources at the Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday during the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting.

Officers spent “more than 3,000 hours” securing the complex, Moore said.

“We have deployed a number of officers on an overtime basis so that we can provide these additional patrols or station them at that location to deter vandals and others from accessing it, while also ensuring that we meet the minimum wagering requirements for stations located around the world. the city,” Moore said.

At a city council meeting last week, council

memberwoman

Imelda Padilla

said that noted

she was surprised at how much attention the skyscraper received and

attributed that it is probably due

to its great size.

Padilla said at least four “mini versions” of the unfinished skyscraper exist in Los Angeles. The buildings include abandoned commercial, manufacturing and family business structures.

Padilla was directed to abandoned buildings on Sepulveda Boulevard and Kester Avenue, as well as a Denny’s restaurant

convenient

at Vineland Avenue and Sunland Boulevard, a spokesperson for Padilla’s office said.

The fourth building, a Roscoe hardware store, is located at Sunland Boulevard and San Fernando Road, according to its spokesperson. Padilla is currently working to have it demolished.

“It is troubling that blight is receiving more attention when it affects wealthier parts of the city,” Padilla said in a statement Thursday. “Yet working-class neighborhoods like the one I represent struggle with this problem every day. The plague is unacceptable regardless of zip code, and we deserve the same sense of urgency.”

The Oceanwide Plaza project is located among shops and restaurants near the LA Live complex.

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