Construction of the Oceanwide Plaza condominium, hotel and retail complex in downtown Los Angeles has paused, The Los Angeles Times reports.
The newspaper says that Beijing-based builder Oceanwide Holdings issued a statement on Jan. 24 saying the stall is due to recapitalization of the project and work is expected to resume in mid-February.
The project across the street from the Staples Center sports arena is expected to cost more than $1 billion. It has three towers already built to heights as high as 55 stories. There are to be more than 500 condos and a hotel.
Frank Bush, the city’s Department of Building and Safety general manager, said his office received a call on Jan. 25 from Lendlease, the project’s general contractor, saying it was canceling an inspection that had been scheduled for that day.
“They said they were stopping work on the project at this time, and had no further explanation,” Bush was quoted as saying, adding that the shutdown has nothing to do with any inspections or permitting issues involving his agency. “It doesn’t have anything to do with any corrections we’ve given them or anything like that. It wasn’t at our direction.”
