An office building built by iconic L.A. architect Paul Williams has come up for lease on the Sunset Strip. Known for years as the Berman/Kohner Building and now dubbed The House on Sunset, the three-story Deco Moderne-style building was constructed in 1936 by Williams, who was the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects and who created homes or completed major renovations for such stars as Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra, Tyrone Power, and Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.
Over the last few years, the mixed-use building at 9169 Sunset Blvd. has been completely renovated by its owner, Reagan Silber, who bought it in 2016.
“It’s a jewel. It’s something I’m super proud of — owning this corner of Sunset Boulevard at the intersection of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood,” says Silber of the building, which has its fair share of Hollywood history. It once served as the office of the Paul Kohner Talent Agency (Kim Novak is said to have signed her first contract there). Orson Welles lived for a time in the penthouse. And when Silber first toured the building, Rob Reiner and his Castle Rock Entertainment had offices there. It was designated as a historic landmark three years ago.
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All three floors of the approximately 10,000-square-foot property are available for lease.
The ground floor is designed with an eye toward entertaining and includes two front-facing retail kiosks, a bar, lounge and backyard garden, while a basement area includes a kitchen. (In November, actor Noah Centineo and entrepreneur Josh Heller installed a pop-up voting-themed art experience in the space, just ahead of the presidential election.)
The second floor is designed as office space, while the third floor is the penthouse (available only as entire floor).
Ross Klein, former president of luxury brands for Starwood Hotels, is the curator of the space and oversaw the renovation, looking to Art Deco and Hollywood Regency periods for inspiration.
“He [Klein] just brought a great team of creatives together and brought this building back to life,” says Silber, a lawyer, hedge fund manager, hotel developer and entrepreneur. Silber is also a co-founder (along with Alice + Olivia CEO Stacey Bendet and Joe Indriolo) of Creatively, a job platform launched last year that he describes as “a conduit between creatives and companies. It’s a LinkedIn for creatives.”
As for what the lease prices are? Silber tells The Hollywood Reporter he’s being selective about tenants and won’t say: “It just depends.”
A version of this story first appeared in the May 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
