Development Experts Urge Los Angeles to Make the Best of a High-Profile Failure

Once a symbol of downtown LA renaissance, an abandoned high-rise signals city’s dysfunction.

An aerial view of graffiti on at least 27 stories of the unfinished Oceanwide Plaza development in downtown Los Angeles on Feb. 2, 2024. Mario Tama/Getty Images

When developers announced the $1-billion Oceanwide Plaza project in 2016, they promised a crown jewel in the booming downtown Los Angeles renaissance and said it would be “one of the most significant mixed-use developments in the history” of the city, that would “magnificently” reshape the skyline.

But years after construction halted in 2019, the unfinished and abandoned luxury three-tower site next to Crypto.com Arena has become a symbol of the city’s dysfunction since controversy erupted over its graffitied glass facades in recent weeks, observers argue.