940 N Highland Avenue
14,036 SF standalone in Hollywood's Sycamore Design District
Two stories. Fourteen thousand square feet. A renovated 1929 standalone on Highland — on the same block as Holly Hunt's Los Angeles flagship.
THE BUILDING
940 N Highland was built in 1929 as the Hollywood Cat & Dog Hospital. For more than five decades the facade was a Golden Age landmark — distinctive enough that it became the inspiration for Pluto's Palace at Walt Disney World.
In 2023, ownership completed a top-to-bottom renovation that respected the reinforced-concrete bones and delivered a contemporary interior with the discipline of new construction. The floor plate carries ±7,018 SF per level across two stories, with double-height volumes anchoring the front and rear. A pair of mezzanine catwalks frames a full-height steel-and-glass curtain wall at the rear. Skylights punctuate the upper floor. The interior is an open plate — no columns interrupting the center.
Mechanical systems are new: self-contained HVAC (2023), upgraded electrical, modern fire protection, ADA compliance. The building delivers in white-box condition — a finished shell ready for tenant-selected flooring, furniture, and custom finishes.
PARKING AND CORRIDOR
Thirty-two gated surface parking spaces sit behind the building on a paver drive — 2.28 stalls per 1,000 RSF, uncommon in Hollywood. Walk Score is 94 (Walker's Paradise). The Hollywood/Highland Red Line is a 0.9-mile walk.
The blocks around Highland, Romaine, and Sycamore have quietly become one of Los Angeles's most considered design districts. Holly Hunt took the adjacent 941 N Highland as its LA flagship — a 9,056 SF Johnston Marklee showroom. Other neighbors within three blocks: Apparatus, Ralph Pucci, Jeffrey Deitch, Regen Projects, Tanya Bonakdar, Galerie Ground, and Kohn Gallery. The corridor is self-selecting.
IDEAL USERS
Design firms, architects, and studios — the open plates and double-height light are what architects specify in their own drawings.
Furniture, lighting, and home-goods showrooms — the design-trade clientele is already on the block, and curtain walls on both elevations let product read from the street.
Fashion and beauty flagships — two-story standalones with gated parking and private arrival are the format used by the most deliberate brand buildings in LA.
Contemporary art galleries — the rear curtain wall, continuous plate, and mezzanine overlook translate naturally into gallery program; the collector pipeline is walkable.
Production, post, and management firms — the 32-stall gated lot and reinforced-concrete shell solve problems most Hollywood buildings can't.
Media, tech, or creative holding companies — a standalone with real provenance and photographable interiors, at the size of a small flagship.
WALKABLE AMENITIES
Coffee: Go Get Em Tiger (0.4 mi), Verve (0.6 mi), Blue Bottle (0.7 mi), Alfred (0.8 mi). Dining: Osteria Mozza (0.5 mi), Musso & Frank (0.8 mi), Jon & Vinny's (0.9 mi), Animal (1.1 mi), Providence (1.2 mi). Hospitality: Sunset Tower, Chateau Marmont, the Roosevelt, Thompson Hollywood, and Soho House — all within 1.0–2.5 miles. Equinox and Barry's are within a mile; Runyon Canyon is 1.3.
DELIVERY AND TERMS
Offered for lease at $3.75/RSF/month on a modified-gross basis, for the full building. Landlord covers tax, insurance, and CAM; tenant pays janitorial and utilities directly. Terms negotiable from three to ten years with 3% annual escalations. Parking included. Immediate delivery, 100% vacant. Zoning LAMR1, FAR 1.04, land area 13,504 SF.
Wide-plank European white oak flooring shown in marketing imagery is aesthetic inspiration only; the actual tenant selects finishes.
Concurrently offered for sale at $8,500,000 ($605/RSF).
WHY THIS SPACE
There is no shortage of creative office space in Los Angeles. There is, however, a short supply of standalone buildings of this size, with this parking count, on a corridor with these neighbors, delivered in this condition. 940 N Highland was built when Hollywood was being built and renovated with restraint. For a tenant who wants a building rather than a floor — and who wants that building to contribute to how the brand is read — this is a rare alignment.
940 N Highland Avenue · Hollywood, CA 90038
Lee & Associates — Los Angeles West, Inc.
Brad McCoy · 310.899.2730 · brad@bradmccoy.com
Keith Fielding · 310.899.2719 · kfielding@leewestla.com
Brad McCoy
Lee & Associates, Los Angeles West, Inc
