Two Hawaii commercial real estate brokers are part of the team chosen to sell a massive mixed-use residential, hotel and retail complex in downtown Los Angeles.
Colliers and Hilco Real Estate last week were awarded the listing for Oceanwide Plaza, an unfinished, bankrupt development near the Crypto.com Arena, which is home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings, Clippers and Sparks.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings bought a large parcel across from the arena in 2014 and began building a three-tower complex with luxury condominiums and apartments, a five-star hotel, and stores and restaurants.
With the project about 60% complete, work stopped in 2019 as the company ran into financial trouble after the Chinese government clamped down on overseas investment in 2018, according to the Times.
Oceanwide ran into similar trouble on Oahu.
In late 2022, 484 acres of Kapolei land was sold at a loss by the Chinese developer, which had planned to create a residential development of 2,500 upscale homes, and a lake for stand-up paddleboarding, swimming and other water activities. Oceanwide Resort Community HI LLC sold the property for $92.9 million — at a loss of $24.8 million — to WT Laulima Holdings LLC in a deal brokered by Colliers International.
Colliers’ Nathan A. Fong was the broker in the Kapolei deal, and his relationship with Oceanwide in Hawaii led to him being chosen for the team in charge of selling the much larger Los Angeles complex, which encompasses a city block at 1101 South Flower St. and 1.5 million square feet of real estate, according to the company.
Fong, a Colliers executive vice president who is based in Hawaii and California, is joined by Hawaii-based company vice president Andy Y. Kazama as part of the Oceanwide Plaza sales team, according to Colliers.
“Oceanwide Plaza represents an extraordinary opportunity to complete one of the largest downtown mixed-use developments, encompassing best-in-class residential, hotel, retail, dining, and entertainment within the heart of downtown Los Angeles,” Fong said in a Colliers news release.
Hilco Real Estate, bankruptcy experts based in Northbrook, Ill., was also chosen by Oceanwide creditors to be part of the sales team.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Colliers projected a cost of about $865 million to complete Oceanwide Plaza construction. A Colliers’ executive estimated that about $1.2 billion has already been invested in the unfinished development, which has become a target for graffiti artists, according to the Times.
Tribune News Service contributed to this report.
