A proposal to put a 113-room hotel on the West Hollywood site occupied by Barney’s Beanery was presented Wednesday evening to locals by developers Barneys VE LLC, a joint venture of VE Equities and Plus Development Group. The hotel’s most unusual feature is that Barney’s would be, "disassembled and then restored to its current location at the center of the site," reports Wehoville—no small task, as the interior of restaurant and bar is adorned in posters and Christmas lights and filled with knickknacks.
Barney’s Beanery opened in the 1920s and has traditionally been a hangout for bohemian types from Jim Morrison to Quentin Tarantino. (It was also known for a misspelled sign demanding that "Fagots stay out," but that came down in 1984.)
In addition to hotel rooms, the five-story project at 8447 Santa Monica Boulevard would have an underground live music venue and a recording studio. Where the Barney’s would be reinserted on the site, the building’s floors, "are cut back and angled in a faceted fashion to highlight the restaurant’s connection to the pedestrian experience on Santa Monica Boulevard," said Christian Robert of R&A Architecture + Design Inc., the principal architect for the project.
The top floors of the hotel ring a landscaped, U-shaped courtyard. The drop-off and pick-up spots for the hotel would also be underground in an attempt to cut down on gridlock along the street. The project would also have about 244 underground parking spaces where there’s currently a surface parking lot.
The project is in the very early stages of development, and plans haven't even been submitted to the city of West Hollywood yet.
VE Equities also bought the former Hustler store on the Sunset Strip where there are plans to put a fancy members-only Arts Club. The Arts Club is owned and being developed by 8920 Sunset LLC, a collaboration between the principals of The Arts Club and London & Regional Properties. (VE Equities retains an ownership stake.)
- New Hotel Project Proposed for Barney’s Beanery Site [Wehoville]
- First Look at Posh Private Club Gwenthy Paltrow's Building on the Sunset Strip [Curbed LA]
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