Viper Room Mixed-Use Development Heads to Foreclosure

A massive mixed-use redevelopment project for a strip of West Hollywood that includes The Viper Room is up in the air as the property heads to foreclosure.

Silver Creek Development’s 8850 Sunset project, which received final approval from the West Hollywood City Council in August, is more than $69 million in the hole, as reported by WeHo Online.

The developer defaulted on a loan from CW Viper Capital Management, an affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Cottonwood Group, on Feb. 12. The developer was purportedly not paying its mortgage and was short on financing.

A new buyer would face a premium upon purchase of an approved and entitled project like this one, according to WeHo Online.

Plans from Scottsdale, Arizona-based Silver Creek, led by Franck Ruimy, would have brought housing and retail to a 0.92-acre plot on the Sunset Strip between San Vicente Boulevard and Larrabee Street.

The proposal called for a 90-room, five-star hotel; 78 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, including 16 affordable units; about 28,000 square feet of restaurant and bar space; and parking for 232 cars.

The Viper Room would also be relocated into a 6,748-square-foot replacement space on the property.

Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica handled design plans for the 8850 Sunset project. The renderings showed a glass-paneled mid-rise building above Sunset Drive, complete with a public plaza and central breezeway on the ground floor and a rooftop featuring open-air dining.

The project was first announced in 2018 as a taller 15-story development, though iterations over the years have included a combination of housing and a hotel in a single structure.

8850 Sunset would be the latest hotel-condominium project to pop up on the Sunset Strip in recent years. The Edition Hotel & Residences at 9040 Sunset Boulevard and Pendry Hotel & Residences at 8420 Sunset opened in 2019 and 2021, respectively.

Other high-rises, such as the Sierra Towers just off the Strip at Doheny Road and Sierra Alta Way, are even taller than the Strip buildings and remain popular with celebrities.

Foreclosure proceedings for the 8850 Sunset site are set for June 17.

— Chris Malone Méndez