A West Hollywood high-rise trade just rewrote the record books, a friendly country turned away more than a thousand American travelers this week. Plus, the download every Runyon Canyon hiker needs.
1. A Sierra Towers Penthouse Just Set an All-Time LA County Record
A penthouse unit at West Hollywood’s Sierra Towers sold for $36 million this week, and it set the mark for priciest condo sale of the year — and then some. The deal closed Tuesday. It also came out to the highest price per square foot for a condo in the Los Angeles County market in history.
The nearly 7,400-square-foot three-bedroom condo at 9255 Doheny Road hit the market in early April, asking $39.5 million. The final sale price works out to a record $4,888 per square foot. A 2022 condo sale at Pendry Residences West Hollywood at $4,848 per square foot previously held the top spot. Had the sale landed closer to asking, it could have set an all-time condo sale price record for Los Angeles — a position currently held by a $39.2 million sale last year at The Century tower in Century City, or about $3,400 per square foot.
Carolwood Estates’ Linda May represented the sellers, Chicago philanthropists Dan Fischel and Sylvia Neil, who bought the partially completed condo in 2021 for $17.5 million and spent millions on a buildout over five years. Sierra Towers has housed A-listers before, including Sandra Bullock, Courteney Cox and Katy Perry. The penthouse has a private elevator to the foyer, a roughly 5,500-square-foot wraparound terrace, a gourmet kitchen, a wet bar, a media lounge, a gym and a gallery. The Agency’s Blair Chang represented the buyer and did not immediately return a request for comment.
The sale comes as the broader condo market cools. Southern California condo prices fell 6% year-over-year in February, the steepest drop in 14 years, and deal flow slowed to the third-slowest February on record since 2005.
2. Turkey Blocks an American LGBTQ+ Cruise From Docking Over “Moral Standards”
Turkish authorities have blocked a cruise ship carrying American LGBTQ+ travelers from docking in the country’s ports, citing moral standards and family values, according to CNN. The Atlantis Events-organized “Athens to Venice” cruise departs Greece July 5. It was scheduled to dock in Kuşadası two days later, then Istanbul. Local authorities in Turkey’s Aydin province canceled the port call, saying the group is “known for behaviors incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values,” CNN reported.
The ship, Scarlet Lady, is owned by Virgin Voyages, the cruise line backed by Richard Branson, and is expected to carry more than 1,000 passengers from the U.S. Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell told CNN it’s the first time in 36 years the company has been told it can’t dock somewhere because of who its passengers are. He called the decision concerning, saying a country shouldn’t get to pick and choose which tourists it lets in based on identity.
Turkey’s AK Party under President Tayyip Erdogan has taken an increasingly hostile stance toward the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade. Istanbul has banned Pride marches since 2015, citing public safety. Istanbul police also raided a bar after a promotional brochure advertised a party there tied to the cruise; Campbell said the brochure had no connection to Atlantis. The company notified passengers Thursday that both Turkey stops are off the itinerary.
3. OutfestNEXT 2026 Lineup Is Here, Headlined by Gregg Araki
Outfest unveiled its full OutfestNEXT 2026 lineup this week, and the four-day screening series returns to the LA LGBT Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza July 23 through 26. The festival is headlined by Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex,” starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Chase Sui Wonders, Margaret Cho and Charli XCX. The lineup includes 18 features and more than 30 shorts.
Other featured films include “Barbara Forever,” a documentary on filmmaker Barbara Hammer executive produced by Kristen Stewart; “The Brittney Griner Story”; “Madfabulous,” starring Callum Scott Howells and Rupert Everett; and “Test,” starring Matthew Morrison. Outfest was set to announce the full shorts lineup Thursday, with confirmed highlights including “Kiloran Bay,” starring Alan Cumming and Jack Wolfe, and “Queerbait,” executive produced by Cate Blanchett.
Member tickets went on sale July 1. Public tickets went on sale Thursday.
4. Summer Sounds 2026 Kicks Off Sunday at Plummer Park
West Hollywood’s free outdoor concert series returns to Plummer Park on select Sunday afternoons this summer. Concerts start at 4 p.m. on July 5, July 26 and August 16 at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. The series is free and open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged but not required, and reserved seating isn’t available — bring your own picnic, blanket or low-back chair. Food will be sold on-site.
É Arenas and DJ Que Madre open the series this Sunday. Nikka Costa and DJ Anthony Valadez follow July 26. The Soul Space, featuring Tamara Jade and Orlando Dixon along with Mark Evich and DJ RoseGawd, closes out the series August 16.
5. Runyon Canyon Closes Early Today and Tomorrow — and LAFD Wants Hikers Carrying an App
Runyon Canyon Park is closing early today and tomorrow. The park closes at 5 p.m. on July 4 and July 5, according to Friends of Runyon Canyon, which cited safety reasons for the early closures.
Park rangers and LAPD are also pushing hikers to download what3words before they head up the trail. The free app breaks the globe into three-meter squares, each tagged with its own three-word address, so someone hurt or lost can hand rescuers an exact spot instead of describing a trail that has no street addresses inside its gates. LAFD has leaned on the app for years to speed up response times in the canyon.
The push isn’t hypothetical. LAFD Air Operations airlifted a hiker in grave condition off a Runyon trail on May 24. Three more hikers needed rescue on June 13. And on June 6, 78-year-old writer William Hasley was found dead near the park’s Nichols Canyon Road side after a medical emergency — one of three hiking deaths in the Hollywood Hills area in recent weeks, including 40-year-old Brian Spina, who went into cardiac arrest on the trail while hiking with his young son in May.
Both deaths were covered by WEHOonline.
Turkey, who still denies responsibility for the Armenian Genocide (which the Nazis got most of their killing ideas from), is probably not the country to lecture about “morality”. Odd that Egypt, not exactly the bastion of love and civil rights, is where the homo cruise gets bailed out from Turkey’s homophobia. It’s like Chelsea Byers lecturing us on transparency and the law.
I have two friendss leaving, well, just about now on that Scarlett Lady cruise. The infamy only makes the cruise more glamorous, and they rather prefer the replacement ports over the Turkish ones.