Sierra Towers: The Strategies of L.A.'s Strange, Sexy Celebrity Condo Building

The way in which realtor Russ Filice takes note of it, eventually in early 2000s, he gave an excursion of the Sierra Towers condominium to Eddie Fisher, the first kind teen idol and singer, and the kids Tricia Leigh Fisher and Joely Fisher. The late performer's brood wanted him to maneuver in to the 31-story West Hollywood high-rise, and also the visit cut back reminiscences for Fisher, former husband to both Darlene Reynolds and Bette Davis, then in the 70s. "Whenever we were touring him together with his kids, he stated, 'Oh, I did previously party here constantly with Yul Brynner, doing cocaine.' Plus they stated, 'We know, Father, we all know,' " Filice recalls. "I figured, 'How interesting.' If these walls could talk."our editor recommendsHollywood's Greatest Property Deals each week: Matthew Perry, Val Kilmer, Jesse Trump (Photos) Indeed, Sierra Towers -- lengthy the option of Celebrities, rock 'n' roll gods and showbiz moguls alike -- is loaded with colorful tales which have only put into its appeal and mystique. There's not one other residential building in La which has located this type of different and large number of notables: former citizens include David Geffen, Sidney Poitier and Lindsay Lohan(see chart below).Cher, Elton John and Joan Collins are current citizens, and THR has found that Courteney Cox lately purchased a two-bed room, upper-floor unit in the 9255 Doheny Road tower. They've all clustered to some building that's noted for its jaw-shedding sights, sharp midcentury architecture, discreet staff and prime location around the eastern fringe of Beverly Hillsides at the bottom of the Hollywood Hillsides (Sierra Towers is nearby from Soho House). Your building is effectively not avoidable because current zoning limitations will make it hard to construct this type of tower in West Hollywood, where it's the highest building. These factors make Sierra Towers among L.A.'s most costly high-increases and assisted fuel a surge in prices and interest there since the boom from the mid-2000s. It is just one of only a number of L.A. condo structures where models routinely sell in excess of $1,000 per sq . ft ., a business benchmark. PHOTOS: Matthew Perry's $$ 30 million in tangible Estate -- Two Entries, One Purchase, One Purchase All Inside A Couple of Days Despite the fact that Fisher never ended up purchasing at Sierra Towers, his curiosity about it's illustrative: The 146-unit property attracts all decades -- it's a place where celebrity Lily Collins could share a dip within the pool or perhaps an elevator ride with Joan Collins or her Empire enemy, Diahann Carroll. "You need to be entirely makeup whatsoever occasions when you are getting within the elevator -- who knows who you will encounter,Inch states Nikki Haskell, the StarShape weight loss guru along with a Sierra Towers resident since 1990. She's testing the waters and it has put her two-bed room unit available on the market for $3.two million. Still, Haskell states selling it "would totally break my heart." You will find several apocryphal tales concerning the building's beginning that only increase its legend. Citizens state that the website for Sierra Towers was initially located in Beverly Hillsides, however when that city balked in the suggested height, the home was annexed by La County, which in turn permitted construction to maneuver forward. You will find also tales of benefits by organized crime to neighbors in nearby structures and houses who grumbled regarding their sights being destroyed another story involves Frank Sinatra helping to find the building completed after construction delayed while he wanted a spot for his mother to reside. Your building can also be stated to obtain its plural title from scuttled original intends to develop a second tower. (The metropolitan areas of Beverly Hillsides and West Hollywood along with the La Conservancy don't have any records or information that validate these tales.) PHOTOS: Hollywood's Greatest Property Deals each week: Matthew Perry, Val Kilmer, Jesse Trump What's known concerning the building's history is a lot more straightforward. Sierra Towers was created for $12 million by Walter and Leo Minskoff, whose family firm also built NY's Minskoff Theatre. Your building opened up in 1966, just like the adjacent Sunset Strip was roaring to existence, and grew to become the highest residential structure in La. The architect, Jack A. Charney, who analyzed under Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler, stated inside a 1965 La Occasions article he designed your building "to consider maximum benefit of sights of city, mountain tops and sea." To that particular finish, models within the building, including one-, two- and three-bed room homes, feature true floor-to-ceiling home windows and expansive balconies. Sierra Towers was initially operated like a apartment, but following its purchase by NY property investor Helmsley Spear Corporation., your building was transformed into condos in 1974. In those days, a 1-bed room condo might be had for $70,500 along with a three-bed room unit for $152,500, based on a 1974 La Occasions story. Your building came stars, socialites and performers The Fugitive star David Janssen settled in, as did star jockey Willie Shoemaker and then, Tawny Kitaen. Nowadays, Sierra Towers condos routinely fetch prices typically restricted to houses in Beverly Hillsides or Brentwood. This fall, for instance, Matthew Perry unloaded a 2-bed room unit for slightly under $3 million he'd purchased from John in 2005 for $3.two million. Based on data in the Mls, 10 models happen to be offered this year, by having an average cost of $2.a million ($1,080 per sq . ft .). That's up from 2010, when eight were offered to have an average cost of $1.six million ($850 per sq . ft .). Still, costs are lower in the boom years, when models offered in excess of $2,000 per sq . ft . and also at the peak from the recession last year, just one unit exchanged hands. But Filice cautions that recent sales figures don't tell the entire story because some deals are carried out from the market and don't come in sales databases. He stated there has been three such sales this season. EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood's Historic Taft Building available Filice knows your building well. A Bay Area transplant, he purchased a unit in The month of january 2002 for $725,000 after being fascinated through the sights, locale and -- possibly first and foremost -- an chance. The Sotheby's Worldwide Real estate agent felt the building, which at that time had fallen from favor using the celebrity set, might be repositioned to a different generation of Hollywood gamers. He states that his grassroots marketing campaign introduced a slew of recent citizens towards the tower, changing it right into a hotspot for youthful Hollywood. Throughout yesteryear decade, Lohan and Rachel Zoe moved in, amongst others. Within the boom years, some flippers -- including Vincent Gallo -- designed a fortune, turning models rapidly for profits within the millions. Citizens state that your building functions like a true community: A-listers are friendly within the hallways, quick to provide a smile or contain the elevator. "Everyone within the building includes a considerable amount of privacy -- it's its not all guy for themself," Haskell states. However the building's variety of outsize personas has created memorable moments for many citizens. A number of tales, actually, center around your building's elevators, which you will find just two -- an oversight through the developer that, Kitaen states, managed to get cumbersome to redesign her many homes (she resided in five models in the early eighties to 2008). With only two elevators, strange outings can happen. Filice, for instance, recalls one ride he required that ended using the doorways opening on Lohan, dressed only within an unbuttoned males's dress shirt, at the time of the argument with then-boyfriend Scott Storch, an archive producer. (Filice, who states he's offered a lot more than 100 models in the building, no more lives there.) One former resident recalls exercising during a workout session and looking to visit a "catfight between Alex Carrington and Dominique Deveraux" -- the Empire figures described by Collins and Carroll, correspondingly. (It didn't happen.) Over time, proprietors have cheated your building's design to re-imagine their models. Because Sierra Towers was constructed with crawl space between flooring, proprietors are given great versatility in rerouting plumbing along with other systems to various places in models. Among individuals who've take their own stamp on things: Charles S. Cohen, who owns the Off-shore Design Center, that has combined three models. Cher's unit may be the only two-story condo within the building -- it had been formerly possessed by Gallo and earlier, Geffen. For his part, John has produced a residence for his 10-month-old boy, Zachary, that's next to the singer's pad. Kitaen, Haskell yet others the building's staff of 37 -- including security personnel, porters and 11 valets, differentiates it using their company high-finish condo qualities, including Wilshire Corridor cornerstones like the Blair House and new additions such as the Century. That sentiment is echoed by Sotheby's agent Josh Greer, additionally a resident. "You will find more recent, glossier, fancy structures around the Corridor, but they're cent-a-dozen," states Greer, that has possessed several models within the tower through the years and offered seven there previously six several weeks. "I get home plus they hands me my FedEx packages and take my vehicle, that is perfectly cleaned through the valets. I'm not going to leave." Obviously, homeowner association dues are dear: A fee of roughly $1.20 per sq . ft . monthly implies that who owns a couple,100-square-feet, three-bed room unit forks over about $2,520 monthly. Greer likens Sierra Towers to some top-tier NY co-op, like the Dakota. But unlike Manhattan, where you will find several residential towers preferred with that city's elite, in L.A., a confluence of timing, location and Hollywood glamour has permitted Sierra Towers to face alone. News that five models are actually available on the market -- together with a $9.5 million penthouse -- excites Kitaen, who wants she could go back to your building she lengthy known as home. The onetime Whitesnake music video star longingly recounts her days at Sierra Towers, saying she awakens "considering it every day, going 'Goddamn it, why did I sell my place?'" Email: Daniel.Burns@THR.com Twitter: @DanielNMiller Related Subjects Property