Any seedy remnants of the old days of the Sunset Strip are a thing of the past at this point—at least according to luxury real estate developers, reports the Wall Street Journal in an article about what might be described not so much as gentrification as luxury-ification of an area which, in previous decades, was more associated with rocker debauchery than elegant homes.
Average home prices along the stretch have spiked 23 percent since 2011, according to a study cited in the article. Get ready for them to keep shooting up, because there's a bumper crop of luxe residential and hotel projects planned to shoot up and reshape the neighborhood’s skyline.
Open now is the Camden, an apartment building on Vine which attempts to appeal to Millennial renters with amenities like a music room with instruments and an art courtyard pre-set with easels for casual painting sessions—though one doubts many residents will be quitting what must be lucrative day-jobs to paint full-time.
Nearby, there's the Sunset La Cienega development which brings two full blocks of mixed-use development, including retail, dining, a boutique hotel and 190 condo units, set to hit the market this summer. And down the road, the Edison Hotel, opening in 2018, will be topped with luxury condos. Real estate market experts estimate the cost of units in these developments will run in the $4 million to $7 million range.
Luckily, they won’t all be banal glass towers. One project which might be headed to 8150 Sunset Boulevard has beloved architect Frank Gehry attached for a $300 million mixed-use development which, if completed, would create a new architectural landmark for the area, with his signature fanciful, metal-clad style. We have our fingers crossed for this one!