LOS ANGELES — Early last year, vandals breached fencing, climbed dozens of flights of stairs and painted bold, colorful graffiti on the exterior of three unfinished high-rises that make up the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza development.
The so-called Graffiti Towers — visible from great distances on the 110 Freeway and looming over thousands of visitors attending events across the street at Crypto.com Arena — were expected to be sold in a bankruptcy auction a year ago.
But the long-running bankruptcy sale of downtown Los Angeles’ most spectacular eyesore drags on with no clear end in sight. Experts blame a confluence of factors, including high interest rates, rising construction costs and delays in attracting viable bidders.
Construction on what would have been one of the city’s most notable