Potential sale in sight for ‘graffiti towers’ in downtown LA – NBC Los Angeles

After years of harboring safety hazards and being an eye sore in downtown Los Angeles, the “graffiti towers,” vandalized skyscrapers, are now one step closer to a sale.

The developer of Oceanwide Plaza has signed a bankruptcy exit agreement, which will take care of the creditors who are owned hundreds of millions of dollars.

After the Oceanwide Plaza Development, a Chinese company, ran out of money, the agreement deal would resolve the financial issues while clearing hurdles for a potential sale.

“Without this big bankruptcy deal, a sale probably would have been impossible because what new buyer wants to build a mall, offices and residences with all sorts of creditors crawling all over their backs,” legal analyst Royal Oakes told NBC Los Angeles Thursday.

Buying the property is one thing, but cleaning up the signs of vandalism may be another, according to Oakes.

“You still have got graffiti issues, and the condition of the building may be a topic. But a new buyer will probably be able to come in and finish the project,” he said.

Over the past few years, the abandoned towers have been home to several issues. While base jumpers used the building for their stunts, a man even walked a tightrope between two of the towers. Another man got the tattoo of infamous building on his back.

An artist has also created sculpture modeled after the towers.

“There’s nothing that punctuates this sort of moment in in time better: just the complete evacuation of capital and the hostile takeover by the community in which it stands,” said Sayre Gomez, the artist behind the sculpture. “It’s like something almost gleeful in one end and then kind of almost sad in another.”

The Graffiti Tower Sculpture will be on display through March 1 at the David Kordansky Gallery in LA’s Mid-City neighborhood.