A developer’s plan now calls for the famous Viper Room nightclub to be reborn within a newly designed 12-story boutique hotel and condominium tower in West Hollywood.
After strong pushback for its initial concept for the Sunset Strip, Silver Creek Development has unveiled a new plan for 8850 Sunset Blvd., the Daily News reported.
8850 Sunset Blvd (8850SunsetBlvd)
The new 8850 Sunset project will include a single tower containing a Viper Room revamp, a 113-room hotel, 26 condominiums, eight affordable units, as well as meeting rooms, restaurants, cafes and retail shops.
Construction is set to begin next year, with a completion date in 2025.
Gone is the 200-foot tall concept designed by Morphosis, an eye-catching building resembling a white claw rising to the side and then cantilevering over a more traditional 15-story tower that would have included 115 hotel rooms and 41 condominiums.
In its place is a new building design from Miami-based Arquitectonica, which tries to blend with the surrounding landscape of West Hollywood, incorporating public and private green spaces.
“We are delighted to bring forth this distinguished mixed-use project that pairs an unparalleled level of luxury and attention to detail with a historic location on the iconic Sunset Strip,” said Charles Essig, managing director at Silver Creek.
Phoenix-based Silver Creek Development, an affiliate of REM Finance, aims to build 8850 Sunset on a block of commercial properties on the south side of the Sunset Strip between Larrabee Street and San Vicente Boulevard.
In 2018, REM Finance bought the Viper Room and three other properties, which occupy 38,000 square feet of land, for $80 million in an off-market deal. The buyer was officially registered as 8850 Sunset.
The revised mixed-use project would demolish all four properties and replace them at ground level with a reimagined Viper Room, in signature black, gray and green. The club will have a larger concert stage and auditorium, a hall of memorabilia and a professional recording studio.
In addition to four street-level restaurants built within a two-story platform, the 8850 Sunset complex will include a 3,000 square-foot meeting space, plus cafes, shops and an unspecified number of parking spaces underground.
The building, lit by dynamic LED panels, would include a LEED standard design, native-drought tolerant landscaping, a green roof, and a ground floor that encourages walking and gathering
The area’s “first and only five-star” hotel would rise to the fifth story, with condominiums and low-income rental units from there to the 10th floor, according to plans. On top of the building would be a restaurant and bar, with an outdoor terrace with views of Downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.
8850 Sunset Blvd (8850SunsetBlvd)
The Viper Room, the rock club once partially owned by Johnny Depp, started out as a jazz club called the Melody Room that was said to be frequented by mobsters Bugsy Malone and Mickey Cohen. It was known as Central in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Viper Room opened in 1993, and actor River Phoenix died after suffering a drug overdose there during its first year in business. It soon became a hangout for such young Hollywood stars as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, who came to see such acts as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Johnny Cash and Courtney Love. Depp sold his interest in the club in 2004.
[Los Angeles Daily News] – Dana Bartholomew
Read more
Development
Los Angeles
Design revealed for futuristic hotel/condo to replace Viper Room
Commercial
Los Angeles
Sunset Strip's Viper Room, neighboring properties sell for $80M