LOS ANGELES-Chinese investor Oceanwide Real Estate Group has closed escrow on a 4.6-acre lot in Downtown Los Angeles, GlobeSt.com reported in an earlier story. The acquisition is further evidence that interest from Chinese investors is ever increasing in Los Angeles. This month, three separate Chinese investors closed several major deals here, including the $96 million acquisition of the 802-room Sheraton Gateway Hotel and the Marriott South Bay.

The acquisition marks Oceanwide Real Estate Group's entry into the US market. According to sources unrelated to the deal, the company claimed it would spend as much as $200 million on the site, which is located across from the Staples Center. Greg Karns, a partner with Cox Castle Nicholson, says, “They're going through urbanization in China that we haven't seen since our industrial revolution. With that, as more and more of China becomes urbanized, we will see more and more of this investment and the Chinese government encouraging it.”

As reported earlier, the site was purchased from New York-based firm the Moinian Group, and includes entitlements for a 1.5-million-square-foot upscale, mixed-use development. AEG originally planned the development as phase two of L.A. LIVE before selling the property to the Moinian Group for $80 million in 2006. The entitlement includes approximately 1,200 multifamily units and 500 hotel units.

Allen Matkins attorney Alain R'bibo served as counsel to the seller, while Cushman & Wakefield brokers David Hasbrouck and John Eichler represented the seller in the transaction. For the buyer, Nixon Peabody attorney Paul Schrier provided counsel.