Stalking Horse Bidder Negotiations Still Open for L.A.’s Oceanwide Plaza Project
By Isabelle Durso July 25, 2024 12:15 pm
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The negotiations with the potential stalking horse bidder for the Oceanwide Plaza towers in Downtown Los Angeles are still open, despite contrary press reports this week, Commercial Observer has learned.
An undisclosed group’s bid to potentially drop $500 million on the site “did not meet deadlines,” lawyers said during a court hearing on Tuesday, The Real Deal reported. Yet, while the group did not meet a July 23 deadline, it does not mean the unnamed bidder is out, according to one of the lead brokers in charge of the auction.
Colliers (CIGI) Executive Vice President Mark Tarczynski, who’s been working on the Oceanwide auction, said in a statement to CO that reports this week “inaccurately stated that our group’s negotiations had broken down with our potential stalking horse buyer.”
“This is false,” Tarczynski said. “We are working to finalize our agreement with this potential buyer, and will update the court and interested parties when there is additional information to share on this agreement. We look forward to a successful sales process, which has generated exceptional interest in the property from buyers around the world.”
Chinese developer Oceanwide had ambitious plans for the two-tower, 2 million-square-foot development site in L.A. before it fell into financial strife and the project halted construction in 2019. Now, the project sits as a bankrupt “skyscraper playground” repeatedly tagged by graffiti artists, earning it the nickname “Graffiti Towers.” The bankruptcy auction has some in the city hopeful a new owner could revitalize the empty towers.
General contracting company Lendlease — which is owed $185 million on the project — said in a statement to CO that it “remains optimistic” about the sale of Oceanwide and the plans laid out as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
“Lendlease understands that negotiations with the potential stalking horse bidder and others are ongoing and remains positive about a future sale,” a company spokesperson said. “The ongoing negotiations with the stalking horse bidder and upcoming auction are positive moves toward compensating everyone whose work has created value at Oceanwide Plaza to date, including many Los Angeles-based firms and workers, and to creating a positive and lasting project for the city of Los Angeles.”
Bids on Oceanwide are due Aug. 15, and an auction is set to take place Sept. 17, according to court records.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
