Crews have started working on a fence that would surround the abandoned luxury skyscraper known as the Oceanwide Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, City Councilmember Kevin de León announced Friday.
The fence work starts along 12th Street between Figueroa and Flower Streets.
The Los Angeles City Council recently passed an amended motion to provide $1.1 million in initial funding to address the defaced skyscrapers.
“Scaffolding has been removed around the construction site and new fencing is being installed to deter individuals from coming onto the premises,” a news release said.
The vacant project, which has sat dormant in downtown Los Angeles for several years, has been the center of media attention after taggers graffitied more than 25 stories of the skyscraper.
Construction on Oceanwide Plaza, a $1 billion mixed-use retail and luxury apartments project with three towering unfinished structures, stalled in January 2019 after the Beijing-based developer lacked the funds to complete it, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Police Department has deployed multiple units to patrol all sides of the property in order to discourage taggers and others wanting to participate in dangerous activities from entering the property.
On Feb. 13, Councilman de León told KTLA that 23 individuals, most of whom are in their mid-20s to 40s and do not live in the area, have been arrested for trespassing on the property.
De León also said he had contacted the Chinese developer of the building, who appeared “very apologetic and courteous” over the phone.
“The owners are across the Pacific Rim in Beijing,” de León said. “If I have to go to China, I’ll go to China and deal with them, but my understanding is that they have other properties in the United States and China that they have gone belly-up on.”
