Sunset Strip’s Viper Room, neighboring properties sell for $80M

Four Sunset Strip commercial properties, including the infamous Viper Room club, have sold for $80 million.

The sale includes two storefront properties next to the Viper Room, between North San Vicente Boulevard and Larrabee Street in West Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. Also included in the acquisition is a parking lot next to the club. The addresses are 8850-8878 Sunset Boulevard and 1029 Larrabee Street.

The buyer was listed as 8850 Sunset LL, according to records. A representative, Jim Cooper of REM Finance Inc., told the journal there is “not a development plan in place,” but that the buyer was “looking to see what the highest and best use could be.”

The seller was identified as Fifth Gear.

The properties, which sit on 38,000 square feet of land, were not listed on the open market.

One block to the West, a joint venture of London & Regional Properties and VE Equities plan to demolish a Hustler-brand adult store to construct a modern nine-story building. It will serve as the only U.S. branch of Arts Club, a private club for creative types. The West Hollywood Planning Commission approved the project in June after three years in the making.

Formerly a jazz club, the Viper Room opened in 1993. Rising Hollywood actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose there later that year. At the time it was once partially owned by actor Johnny Depp, who sold his stake in 2004. [LABJ] — Dennis Lynch