Oceanwide Plaza is an American residential and retail complex under construction composed of three towers in downtown Los Angeles, California, across the street from Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center. Oceanwide Holdings is the owner and developer. The CallisonRTKL-designed complex will feature a five-star Park Hyatt hotel with interiors by Studio Munge, as well as 504 residences and a collection of retailers and restaurants. It will also be home to the city's tallest residential tower, which commenced construction in 2015. The towers currently have no completion date. It is unknown when the complex will open as it is having financing issues, and work was suspended. Limited work resumed in early 2019. By the end of 2019, construction slowed again. Los Angeles and US national media reports the towers are currently on hold due to Chinese foreign real estate investmentcapital being pulled due to the China–United States trade war. The scheduled 2020 opening date was pushed back to an unknown date.
Design
Designed by CallisonRTKL. Tower one will feature a 184-room five star Park Hyatt hotel along with 164 Park Hyatt serviced condo residences; a live in hotel option. It will reach a total height of 675 ft, 49 floors. Towers two and three will have 504 residential condominiums. They will reach a total of 530 ft; 40 floors in height. When completed, they will become the 11th and 21st tallest buildings in Los Angeles. The Park Hyatt project marks the luxury brand's first hotel and branded residences on the West Coast. That 49-story building will consist of a 184-room hotel topped by 164 serviced hotel residences. Located adjacent to the Staples Center and L.A. Live near the Los Angeles Convention Center, project participants say the complex's design offers a departure from the standardized glass curtain and masonry architecture of the city's downtown. The developer, Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings, enlisted CallisonRTKL as a consultant to design features such as the 700-ft. LED ribbon wrapping the perimeter of the building. Beyond that, the firm plans to create glass elevators with LED bands and landscaped retail paseos that incorporate local plant life. A retail mall named The Collection at Oceanwide Plaza is scheduled to open on the first three floors above ground with 153,000 square feet of retail space. The mall will be open air and have deck views of L.A. Live. The 9th floor will feature a two-acre private park. Features include private cantilevered deck pools, viewing platforms, basketball court, a dog park, green space and a running track. Celebrity fitness trainer and nutritionist Harley Pasternak has conceptualized the development's amenity spaces, including a two-acre sky park. Leisure offerings such as a fitness center, children's play area, basketball court and two dog parks will also be on-site.
History
The site was a vacant parking lot used by Staples Center patrons in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. The site is immediately west of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Station Pico/Chick Hearn. This development is part of a group of projects currently under construction on Figueroa allowed to add giant video advert screens facing Staples Center. Along with Circa Towers and the Luxe Development. Oceanwide renderings also feature large ribbon style video LED screens. In July 2018, FBI serves a search warrant on Google under money laundering and bribery statutes. The warrant asks for information contained in the Gmail account of Raymond Chan, the former head of the Los Angeles Dept. of Building and Safety until he retired in 2016 and served for a year as a Los Angeles deputy mayor for economic development until June 2017. Also named: Councilman Jose Huizar, family members and other city hall aides; Councilman Curren Price; Deron Williams, chief of staff to Herb Wesson; and Joel Jacinto, a member of the city's board of public works. The warrant mentions seeking records for information on "development projects in and around Los Angeles that relate to foreign investors." Oceanwide Holdings and other Chinese development companies are also found in the pages of the search warrant. The three luxury apartment towers topped off in April 2018. In January 2019, interior construction on the project was put on hold. The developer cited restructuring of capital and indicated work on the plaza would resume "shortly". Contractor Lendlease suspended work until late March 2019 when it was announced construction resumed after nine active liens have been filed by subcontractors totaling US$98.6 million. Due to the three month stop and restart of work, opening date was pushed back to an unknown date. Work once again stopped in late 2019 due to delays. Media reports the towers are stuck in limbo over unpaid work and pending lawsuits. The towers are an example of Chinese pull back of capitol and investing in US real estate because of its ongoing trade dispute with the U.S. and a Beijing crackdown on credit and capital flight. Completion of work is uncertain as of late 2019.
