Is the Sunset Strip Declining or Evolving? Depends on Who You Ask

Rupert Murdoch’s California Post spent a week checking in on the Sunset Strip and came back with a pretty grim report. It’s not what many of us who live, shop or play on the Strip see most days, but apparently some do, and the paper caught up with them. That said, not everyone who works or owns a business there agrees and they are pushing back.

Sol Yamini has owned Pink Dot on the Sunset Strip since 2001 and serves on the board of the Sunset Strip Business Improvement District. He called the piece very misleading. “The Sunset Strip is not declining, it’s evolving,” he said in a Facebook post. “The Strip is in the middle of a transformation, with exciting new hotels, restaurants, entertainment concepts, and retail brands coming online. Like any major destination, there are periods of change, but the future of the Sunset Strip is incredibly bright. There is tremendous investment, energy, and momentum behind what’s happening here.”

Empty storefronts. “For Lease” signs on buildings that used to have lines out front. A homeless man camped in a doorway. Those were the images the Post came back with after a week on the block. Business owners said, in different ways, that the place has lost whatever made it worth coming to.

The story ran Sunday. Two days later the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce held its State of the City brunch at the London Hotel.

It’s worth noting The California Post launched in January as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp West Coast answer to the New York Post, operating out of a newsroom on the Fox lot in Century City. Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at USC’s Annenberg School, said at the time that a major target would be Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has presidential aspirations and has become, in Kahn’s words, “a Republican boogeyman.” A tabloid targeting California’s most famous Democrat finding a week’s worth of decay on one of the state’s most iconic streets is not exactly a coincidence.

That said, the people they talked to were real, and their voices and concerns can’t be dismissed. At least they shouldn’t be. And what they said apparently tracks with what City Hall’s own numbers show.

Sofi Mamo owns A Divine H20 in Sunset Plaza. She’s been there nearly 20 years. Her rent is now three to four times what it was when she opened. “A lot of the businesses are struggling to break even because the cost of living is rising and the rent is rising,” she told the Post. “I think every small business, every mom-and-pop, all the small businesses are in danger of extinction. People used to just come here to experience culture. It kind of lost the soul. There were so many landmarks that people just go and experience.”

The numbers from City Hall aren’t more cheerful — and they match what WEHOonline reported from last year’s State of the City. Retail rents on the Strip are running $74.64 per square foot per year — highest in WeHo, second in the region only to Rodeo Drive. Retail vacancy is at 10.3 percent. Office vacancy is worse, at 16.3 percent. The City’s own visitor data showed more than 250,000 fewer people came to West Hollywood in the first quarter of 2025 than the year before. Most of the ones who did show up stayed less than 30 minutes. Only 9 percent stuck around more than four hours. “Every business that closes, we have seen more licenses open up,” then-Mayor Chelsea Byers told NBC4 in March 2025. “We’re not at a low point in terms of new businesses opening.”

Chin Chin is gone. Pink Taco closed in September 2024 — that space used to be the Roxbury. Le Petit Four announced it was closing in March 2025 after 44 years, citing rising costs and falling foot traffic. A GoFundMe was launched and a community outpouring of reservations and goodwill attempted to save the iconic bistro and still it closed. Rumble, the boxing brand with Sylvester Stallone and Justin Bieber money behind it, shut last June. The company cited “the current economic climate and the challenges of operating on the Sunset Strip.” The Strip is expected to change through the years, that’s ok. Just as long as new businesses are replacing them.

Luc Mena, the general manager of The Den before it closed, put the economics plainly. “The minimum wage has gone up since 2019 like 40%,” he told NBC4. “In order for us to survive, we would have to sell $80 steaks.” Foot traffic was just as damaging. “We don’t have enough foot traffic in the winter, and it led to the decision of us closing down. Usually around summer time when it gets really busy, it gives you a cushion to survive the winter.” California’s statewide minimum wage is $16 an hour, with fast-food workers starting at $20.

The Den’s space didn’t stay empty long. Galerie opened there in November, a new California-inspired restaurant that WEHOonline covered as a sign of the Strip’s resilience. Then-Mayor Chelsea Byers told WEHOonline that new businesses opening in West Hollywood have outnumbered closures. “It’s not up for every business to have to stay open forever and ever,” she said. “It does bring sadness, but we’re seeing that turnover happen as well.” 

The block at 8850 Sunset — home to the Viper Room — has been effectively dark for years, its tenants cleared out and the site in limbo as a long-running redevelopment project has lurched through approvals, a near-foreclosure, and multiple redesigns. Ta-Ke Sushi, a 43-year Strip institution on that block, lost its space earlier this year. The developer is now targeting a 2029 opening for an 11-story mixed-use high-rise.

Rabe Mazahreh has lived in WeHo for five years. He told the Post he sees more billboards than people now. “There used to be a lot of people walking here, but no more,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Rad, a longtime WeHo resident who didn’t give his last name, pointed to taxes, social media, and the price of a drink. “This strip was like America’s playground for decades,” he said. “The people that come here now are people that are riding on past glory or they want to come and support it.” He added: “Social media has prevented people from being social and leaving their homes. You’re paying 20 bucks a drink here. People can’t afford to come out and drink at some of these places.”

Daniella Spires and Penny Angela told the Post they largely avoid Sunset Boulevard now. They remembered when it was different. “People pouring onto the streets, it was really fun,” they said. “It was authentic.” Now, they said, it gives off more “influencer vibes.”

Not everybody sees it that way. Maximo Ahumada tends bar at the Naughty Pig and said the place has been busy, partly on World Cup crowds coming in for early matches. “I have strong faith in it,” he said.

Local resident Shaina Guyer is also holding out hope. She told the Post new businesses like Galerie could bring the Strip back to life. “I do think it’s lacking social energy, but with new places like Galerie opening and new places up and coming, I’m excited to see what’s going to change in the future,” she said. “I wish there was more intention to keep those places alive, but hopefully places like Chateau can keep the Hollywood magic.”

Whisky A Go Go is still there. The Roxy. Chateau Marmont. They were there before the current hand-wringing started.

Yamini, who was also quoted in the California Post piece itself, put it simply. “In the next five years, it’s going to be the best area in all of Los Angeles,” he said.

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