"LA's graffiti towers weren't a flash in the pan. They spotlit a national problem"

[DrLeftover]

LA City Councilmember Kevin de Leon, who represents downtown LA, told a neighborhood group the city didn't have the money to take over the project, leaving their options limited. This week, Colliers, an investment management company, announced it would work with Hilco Real Estate to finally sell the unfinished project.

So, how did LA find itself in this situation to begin with?

The development was approved when former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was in charge of new development approvals in Downtown LA.

He was sentenced earlier this year to 13 years in prison for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes related to those approvals. Oceanwide Plaza wasn't mentioned in the indictment, and prosecutors say the development didn't come up in related criminal cases, but Huizar pleaded guilty to taking bribes from several developers, including some based in China.

It's not clear how the criminal conduct in city council at the time could have influenced the approval for a billion-dollar development that ultimately went belly up,

more

LA's graffiti towers weren't a flash in the pan. They spotlit a national problem

Earlier this year, two high-rise towers under development in Los Angeles were covered in graffiti. The incident highlights a debate over housing and development that the whole country is wrestling with.

www.scrippsnews.com

 

[Nebulous]

Pretty interesting. Crazy that they could throw all that money into something just for it to be haulted and abandoned.

 

[Webster]

Pretty interesting. Crazy that they could throw all that money into something just for it to be haulted and abandoned.

Its' just one of a myriad reasons, Nebby, why people in America love to slag California.