Colliers, Hilco to List Oceanwide Plaza for Bankruptcy Sale

After a year of legal disputes over who would get paid first—and global notoriety when its unfinished 49-story towers were covered in graffiti shortly before the Grammy Awards were held across the street—it looks like the bankruptcy sale of Oceanwide Plaza is finally getting underway.

Colliers and Hilco Real Estate have been tapped to handle the marketing and sale of Oceanwide Plaza. They are promising a “disciplined and orderly” process.

“We are determined to run a disciplined and orderly process to identify the right developer to finish the project in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics,” said Mark Tarczynski, an executive VP at Colliers, in a release.

Developer China Oceanwide stopped construction on the 1.5M SF project in Downtown Los Angeles when it ran out of money in 2019. In June 2023, a notice was filed in Los Angeles County stating that China Oceanwide had defaulted on $157M it owed to a group of EB-5 lenders on Oceanwide Plaza.

Contractors on the project, led by Lendlease Corp., filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the limited liability company for Oceanwide Plaza in February. The project now has debtor-in-possession financing for payroll, security, repairs—to comply with a city order to clean up the graffiti—and to assist in a sale process, Bloomberg reported.

The owners owe almost $400M to creditors, including about $180M to EB-5 visa investors, $175M to construction contractors, $18M for back taxes to Los Angeles County and a reimbursement to the city for security, the report said.

Colliers submitted an appraisal in the bankruptcy case that estimated the as-is market value of Oceanwide Plaza at nearly $434M. The brokerage also projected a cost of $865M to complete the project, which is 60% finished, Bloomberg reported.

In a filing last year, China Oceanwide said it would need more than $1.2B to finish construction on the Oceanwide Plaza development after spending $1.1B on the project, which was building 504 condos and a hotel, as well as commercial space.

The listing assignment for Colliers and Hilco is subject to bankruptcy court approval.

The team that will lead the disposition and marketing of the Oceanwide Plaza development includes Colliers’ Mark Tarczynski and Nathan Fong, executive vice presidents; Adam Tischer, senior VP; Andy Kazama, VP; and Hilco Real Estate’s Jeffrey Azuse, executive vice president, and Daniel Miggins and Jamie Cote, vice presidents.

The three towers of Oceanwide Plaza, encompassing a total of 1.5M SF, occupy an entire city block at 1101 South Flower Street. According to the release, the development will include a Park Hyatt hotel, serviced residences and luxury condominiums, with expansive retail space and private parks.