Condos in hulking Sunset Strip complex will become extended-stay hotel instead

No sooner had construction wrapped up on the Sunset Strip project known as The Residences at 8500, than the complex sold to a developer with plans to use the structure as an extended-stay hotel, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The new owners, Korman Communities, plan to turn the project into a high-end extended-stay inn under the AKA brand. Korman already operates an 88-room AKA in Beverly Hills, where rooms start at $4,500 a week.

The 190-unit Sunset Strip complex sits above a 42,000-square-foot ground floor commercial space where Fred Segal has leased 22,000 square feet for a new flagship store. CIM will continue ownership of that space, the Times reports.

The Residences at 8500 Sunset was originally planned as two, eight-story condo towers, but “the goal was always to sell,” CIM co-founder Shaul Kuba tells the Times. “Our business plan has been completed.”

The Residences are part of a two-block project that also includes what was initially set to be a James hotel. But that company backed out in June, and now a “1” hotel will take its place. The switch has been attributed to the sale of the hotel portion of the project to Starwood Capital, which owns the “1” brand. CIM has not confirmed the sale to Curbed or the Times.

• Brand-new Sunset Strip apartments to become deluxe extended-stay hotel [LAT]
• Fred Segal will open new flagship store in CIM Group’s Sunset Strip development [Curbed LA]
• The James West Hollywood backs out of the Sunset Strip [Curbed LA]
• Mapping the Fancy New Developments Headed for the Once Scuzzy Sunset Strip [Curbed LA]