Viper Room Site To Become Home To 12-Story Mixed-Use Project With Memorabilia, Condos & Redesigned Music Venue

The original Viper Room is fading to black.

In its place will be a 12-story mixed-use high rise at the corner of Sunset and Larrabee in West Hollywood. The development, which was announced today, will include a re-designed music venue, recording studio space, eateries, cafes, retail space, housing units and a hotel. According to the project’s web site, memorabilia from the original Viper Room will be featured throughout the venue.

“8850 Sunset makes possible the rebirth of this iconic music venue, preserving it for generations to come,” notes the web site, which bills the development as, at once, a “Global destination” and “local landmark.”

Construction is expected to begin next year on the high-density project named after its address at 8850 Sunset, according to Los Angeles-based Silver Creek Development, which bought the property about four years ago.

“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. “The project is a complementary offering to the Strip and will include a five-star luxury hotel to make 8850 Sunset a premier destination in the heart of West Hollywood.”

The Viper Room, as such, was inaugurated in 1993. Owned by Johnny Depp and his 21 Jump Street co-star Sal Jenco, the venue became a hangout for young Hollywood, who came to see acts such as opening night band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Johnny Cash, Neurotic Outsiders (a supergroup comprised of Duff McKagan, Steve Jones and Iggy Pop), Hole, the Strokes Keanu Reeves’ Dogstar, The Cult, Slash, Julliette (Lewis) and the Licks, Concrete Blonde and Tenacious D crowd onto the small stage.

The venue was featured in numerous films including (in a former incarnation) the 1983 classic Valley Girl, Oliver Stone’s The Doors, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Be Cool.

The club was touched by tragedy as well when on Halloween night 1993, actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk outside. In 1997, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence played his last public gig there. He committed suicide a week later.

In the ’50s and ’60s, the venue was a jazz club called the Melody Room that was said to be frequented by mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. It later became a jazz club known as the Central in the 1970s and 1980s. It was Chuck E. Weiss, who often played the Central, who suggested Depp buy it. It Depp sold his interest in the club in 2004.

Since initially proposing a redevelopment of the site in 2018, Silver Creek has taken public input on the project. The design was created in partnership with Miami architecture firm Arquitectonica.

The new businesses will include a hotel, 26 condominiums and eight income-restricted housing units. Cafes, stores and the Viper Room entrance will be part of a two-story platform at street level, while the hotel will rise up to the fifth story, according to the plans.

Residences will reach the 10th story, where a restaurant and bar will offer an outdoor terrace with skyline views, according to the development company.

The sale of the land, which stretches over 38,000 square feet from San Vicente Boulevard to Larrabee Street in West Hollywood, CA., closed on in 2018 for a reported $80 million. In addition to the Viper Room, the parcel includes the Aahs costume store, Bar Code barber shop, the Liquor Market and Ta-Ke Sushi and Amarone restaurants.

City News Service contributed to this story.