Oceanwide Plaza was supposed to be the crown jewel of DTLA. Instead, it became a billion-dollar coloring book. If you've driven down the 110 recently or walked past the Crypto.com Arena, you've seen them—three massive, skeletal skyscrapers covered in neon tags from the ground floor all the way up to the clouds. It’s wild. It’s messy. It is, quite literally, the biggest display of street art the world has seen in decades.
The graffiti towers Los Angeles has unintentionally hosted are more than just an eyesore or a masterpiece, depending on who you ask. They represent a massive failure of international real estate and a sudden, aggressive reclamation of space by the city’s underground. It didn't happen overnight, but once the first tagger broke in, the floodgates didn't just open—they burst.
How the Graffiti Towers Los Angeles Became a Global Spectacle
Money ran out. That’s the short version. Oceanwide Holdings, a Beijing-based developer, stalled the $1 billion project back in 2019. For years, the site sat silent. It was a ghost town of concrete and crane. But in early 2024, everything changed. In a matter of days, the blue construction netting became a backdrop for hundreds of individual "pieces."
Artists like SOTER and others from the MTA crew (Metro Transit Assassins) didn't just hit the bottom floors. They climbed. Some used the stairs; others, according to local reports and social media footage, used the external scaffolding. You’ve probably seen the drone footage—it’s dizzying. It’s not just a few scribbles. We’re talking about massive block letters that can be read from miles away.
The LAPD was caught completely off guard. By the time they realized the scale of the "breach," the towers were already saturated. Over 25 floors of one tower were completely tagged. The sheer logistics of it are honestly kind of impressive, even if you hate the look. How do you get that much paint up there? How do you hang off a ledge 500 feet in the air just to leave a mark?
The Cost of a Billion-Dollar Eyesore
The city isn't happy. At all. The City Council eventually voted to spend nearly $4 million just to fence the property and start some abatement. That’s taxpayer money going toward a private developer’s failure.
Mayor Karen Bass has been vocal about the "danger" and the "image" it sends, but the internet had a different reaction. For a few weeks, the graffiti towers Los Angeles became a tourist destination. People were flying drones, taking selfies, and treating it like a pop-up gallery.
✨ Don't miss: Why Palacio da Anunciada is Lisbon's Most Underrated Luxury Escape
It’s a weird tension. You have the official "City of Los Angeles" stance, which is that this is a crime scene. Then you have the street art community, which sees this as a giant middle finger to the gentrification that has priced so many people out of Downtown. To many, the towers are a monument to corporate greed—a massive project left to rot while the city struggles with a housing crisis.
Security Failures and the "Gold Rush" of Tagging
Why was it so easy to get in? Honestly, it wasn't supposed to be. But once the word got out on TikTok and Instagram that the "Oceanwide towers are open," it became a free-for-all.
Security was basically a skeleton crew. Taggers were reportedly timing the patrols. Some even filmed themselves walking right past guards. It became a rite of passage. If you were a writer in LA, you had to have a piece on the towers.
- The first wave was local crews.
- The second wave saw artists flying in from other states and even countries.
- The third wave was just... chaos. Base jumpers even started using the towers as a launchpad.
The LAPD eventually had to station a 24/7 detail at the site. They made over a dozen arrests in the first few weeks, but by then, the damage (or art) was done. The city pressured the developers to clean it up, but when a company is bankrupt and based overseas, who exactly do you send the bill to?
The Technical Reality of Cleaning it Up
Removing paint from porous concrete and glass at that height is a nightmare. You can't just power wash it. Chemicals can drip onto the streets below. You need specialized scaffolding and professional "abatement" teams.
Some estimates suggest that fully restoring the exterior could cost upwards of $20 million. And for what? The project is still stalled. There is no buyer. There is no plan to finish the luxury condos or the Park Hyatt hotel that was supposed to live there. So, the city is basically paying to "whitewash" a tomb.
🔗 Read more: Super 8 Fort Myers Florida: What to Honestly Expect Before You Book
What This Says About Modern Los Angeles
The graffiti towers Los Angeles situation isn't happening in a vacuum. It’s happening in a city where the gap between the ultra-wealthy and the unhoused is wider than ever.
Walking through DTLA is a jarring experience. You have the gleaming Crypto.com Arena on one side of the street and these "zombie towers" on the other. It’s a visual representation of a broken system. The graffiti isn't the problem; it’s just the symptom. If the building wasn't abandoned, it wouldn't be painted.
"It's a mirror," one local artist told a news crew. "The city left a hole in the skyline, so we filled it."
There’s also the legal side. The "Broken Windows Theory" is often cited here—the idea that letting this stay up encourages more crime. But there’s a counter-argument that these towers have actually brought more "eyes" to the area, creating a weird kind of public square.
Comparisons to 5Pointz and Beyond
People are comparing this to 5Pointz in New York, which was a legendary graffiti mecca before it was demolished. But 5Pointz was sanctioned, at least for a while. The Los Angeles towers are purely "outlaw."
There is zero chance these remain as an official art installation. The liability is too high. The glass is broken in places. The structures aren't up to code. Eventually, they will be cleaned or, more likely, the property will be sold at a massive loss and the new owner will have to deal with the mess.
💡 You might also like: Weather at Lake Charles Explained: Why It Is More Than Just Humidity
Practical Insights for Navigating DTLA Today
If you’re planning to head down to see the graffiti towers Los Angeles for yourself, there are a few things you need to know.
First, don't try to go inside. The LAPD is not playing around anymore. They have a permanent presence there, and they are actively arresting anyone who crosses the perimeter. It’s a construction site, and it’s genuinely dangerous. There are open elevator shafts and unstable flooring.
Second, the best views are actually from a distance.
- The 110 Freeway: Driving north, you get the best profile of the tagging.
- Gilbert Lindsay Plaza: Located right outside the Convention Center, this offers a clear, unobstructed view of the heights.
- Rooftop Bars: Places like Perch or the Hoxton have views, but they are a bit further away.
Understand that this is a fleeting moment in history. One way or another, the towers will change. Either they’ll be finished, torn down, or cleaned.
Moving Forward: The Future of Oceanwide Plaza
The most likely outcome? A court-ordered sale. In early 2024, a group of creditors filed to force the project into involuntary bankruptcy. This is a move to get the property into the hands of someone who can actually do something with it.
Until then, the towers remain. They are a monument to a specific era of LA history—one where the city's grandest ambitions were spray-painted over by the people who actually live there. It’s a reminder that space is never truly empty. If you leave a billion dollars worth of concrete sitting in the sun, someone is going to find a use for it.
To stay informed on the status of the towers or if you're looking for a way to engage with the local art scene legally:
- Monitor the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) public records for new permits on the site.
- Visit sanctioned street art locations like the Arts District nearby, where world-class murals are painted with permission.
- Support local organizations like Inner-City Arts, which provides creative outlets for the city's youth, offering a path for expression that doesn't involve trespassing on 50-story skyscrapers.
- Check the DTLA Neighborhood Council meeting minutes for updates on the city's plan for the $3.8 million abatement fund and how it will impact local traffic and safety.