About the Building
West Knoll Condominiums is a 1974 building at 8535 West Knoll Drive, and the parcel record confirms it as a true for-sale condominium rather than a rental block. The Los Angeles County Assessor carries sixty-six separately assessed homes on recorded condominium Tract 34470, numbered as condominium units 1 through 66, on a parcel of 47,132 square feet zoned WDR4*. Each is coded 010E, the county's classification for a residence in a converted condominium, which places the building among the West Hollywood apartment blocks of the early 1970s that were subdivided for ownership shortly after completion.
The unit count deserves comment because the discovery data flagged it as aggregator-sourced and therefore unreliable. It is not: the county roll independently confirms sixty-six homes, running from assessor parcel 4339004026 to 4339004091 without a gap, each carrying the same condominium tract in its legal description. A condominium directory reports the same figure. Where two entirely separate sources agree on a count and the parcel numbering runs consecutively, the number can be treated as settled rather than indicative. The discovery note that flagged the count as aggregator-sourced can be set aside; the public record supports it directly, and it is one of the few figures about this building that needs no hedging at all.
The addressing shows how the building is arranged. Three homes carry the door numbers 1, 2 and 3, and the remaining sixty-three run in three series of twenty-one, 101 to 121, 201 to 221 and 301 to 321. That is a ground-level group of three, most likely street-fronting, with three full residential floors above, and it matches the four storeys a condominium directory reports. The assessor's internal condominium unit numbers run 1 to 66 in a different order from the door numbers, which is normal and worth remembering when reading a title report.
Assessor records give year built 1974 and effective year built 1975, a one-year gap that is short by the standards of a conversion and suggests the subdivision followed completion almost immediately. Sampled areas are 1,174 square feet for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home at door number 1, and 832 square feet for one-bedroom, one-bathroom homes at door numbers 206 and 320. A condominium directory publishes a range of 832 to 1,266 square feet across one- and two-bedroom layouts, which brackets the sample cleanly at the bottom and extends it modestly at the top.
On amenities, a condominium directory lists a pool, a sauna and an elevator, and describes homes with a formal entryway, a generously sized living room with a fireplace and wet bar, and a private patio. It also notes that residents pay their own electricity, cable, water and internet, which is unusual: water is normally a master-metered common expense in a building of this age, so if that is accurate it says something specific about how this association is set up. Verify it against the current budget rather than the directory.
Amenities & Services
The Residences
The county's addressing divides the building sharply. Three homes carry the door numbers 1, 2 and 3, and sixty-three more run in three even series of twenty-one from 101 to 321. Twenty-one homes to a floor on a parcel of over an acre implies a long plate, probably wrapping a courtyard or a pool, rather than a compact block. The three ground-level homes are a different product from the rest: likelier to have direct outdoor access, likelier to face the street, and worth judging on privacy rather than on view.
Two sampled homes, at door numbers 206 and 320, are both recorded at 832 square feet with one bedroom and one bathroom, on different floors. A condominium directory starts its published range at exactly the same figure, which is unusually precise corroboration between an aggregator and the county roll. That repetition means the one-bedroom product here is a single plan stacked up the building, so a buyer comparing two of them is genuinely comparing condition, floor and aspect rather than layout, and pricing between them should be legible. Ask which of the two exposures a given one bedroom takes, because on a long plate that is the whole difference.
The sampled two-bedroom, two-bathroom home at door number 1 measures 1,174 square feet, and a condominium directory extends the building's range to 1,266 square feet. The spread between the one-bedroom plan at 832 and the two-bedroom plans above 1,100 is wide enough that these are meaningfully different homes rather than variations, and the price gap inside the association should reflect that. Confirm the exact area on the recorded condominium plan, and check whether the second bathroom is ensuite or serves the hallway. Ask too whether the larger plans carry a second exposure or a corner position, since on a plate of twenty-one homes only a few will.
A condominium directory describes homes with a formal entryway, a generously sized living room carrying a fireplace and a wet bar, and a private patio. That specification is exactly what a 1974 developer building for this market would have provided, and each element has a consequence now. A fireplace in a multi-family building of this age raises flue and appliance questions; a wet bar is plumbing in a place a modern plan would not put it; and a patio is almost certainly exclusive-use common area rather than yours outright. Establish on the plan whether the patio is exclusive-use common area, which is the usual arrangement and limits what you may build on it.
A condominium directory lists an elevator, which is not universal in West Hollywood buildings of this height and vintage and matters more than it sounds. It affects who will buy the upper floors, how the building performs for older residents, and what the reserve study has to fund. In a 1974 building the lift equipment is a major capital item with a finite life. Ask when it was last modernised, whether the controller and hydraulics are original, and what the reserve schedule says about it. Ask also whether the lift serves the garage level as well as the three residential floors.
Built as apartments and subdivided within a year or two, this building carries apartment-era detailing: shared plumbing risers, party walls built to landlord standards and windows that predate any glazing requirement. Fifty years of individual renovation will have altered much of it unevenly. Ask the association what has been replaced building-wide, particularly plumbing stacks, roofing and the elevator, and read the CC&Rs for where the boundary between association and owner responsibility actually falls in this conversion. Conversion documents of this era are frequently thinner than modern ones, so read them rather than assuming the standard allocation applies.
Due Diligence
This is a genuine for-sale condominium. Sixty-six separately assessed parcels, numbered 4339004026 to 4339004091 without a gap, sit on recorded condominium Tract 34470 and are coded 010E by the assessor, the county's marker for a converted condominium. The building was constructed as apartments in 1974 and subdivided almost immediately. Read the CC&Rs for how that conversion split responsibility between the association and the individual owner. Ask in particular how plumbing risers and window assemblies are allocated, since those are the two items conversion documents most often leave ambiguous.
A different condominium building stands nearby at 8562 North West Knoll Drive, recorded on condominium Tract 45588 and built in 1988, with its own association, its own plans and its own unit sizes. Search results and price statistics routinely merge the two. Before relying on any comparable sale, amenity list or price per square foot for West Knoll, confirm which tract number and which street address it belongs to. Ask your agent to pull comparables by assessor parcel number rather than by street name.
West Hollywood's Ordinance 17-1004, adopted April 2017 and effective April 2018, requires retrofit of wood-frame buildings whose ground floor contains parking or similar open space where the permit was applied for before 1 January 1978. The city confirms soft-story condominiums are included; only non-ductile concrete and pre-Northridge steel moment frame condominiums were exempted. A 1974 building with three ground-level homes and parking must be assessed against this. Request the screening report.
City guidance estimates most soft-story retrofits between roughly $40,000 and $160,000 for a building, borne by owners. Priority I buildings of sixteen or more units were noticed on 2 April 2019 under a five-year compliance sequence, subsequently adjusted by council resolution. Ask this association whether it has filed a screening report, obtained a permit, completed construction, or done none of these, and whether the cost was met from reserves or by special assessment.
A condominium directory states that residents pay electricity, cable, water and internet. Water paid by the resident is unusual in a 1974 building, where master metering is the norm, so this either reflects sub-metering installed at some point or an error in the directory. It is worth resolving, because it changes both the assessment and the monthly running cost. Ask the association directly and check the current operating budget. A sub-metered building also changes how vacancy and tenancy affect the running cost of an investment purchase.
No public source states the per-home parking allocation. On a parcel of 47,132 square feet carrying sixty-six homes, one space per home is the reasonable expectation for a 1974 development and two would be unusual. Read the deeded or assigned allocation off the preliminary title report, confirm whether the space is single or tandem, and ask how guest parking is managed, since the surrounding streets are permit-controlled. Ask as well whether the garage is subterranean, at grade or tuck-under, because that answer feeds directly into the seismic question.
No leasing rule is published for this association. California Civil Code section 4741 sets the floor: an association may not cap rentals below twenty-five percent of units, and may prohibit tenancies of thirty days or less. West Hollywood separately regulates short-term rentals. Ask what the board has adopted, when, and what proportion of the sixty-six homes is tenanted, because owner-occupancy affects which lenders will finance a purchase here. Ask for the rule in writing rather than accepting a verbal summary from the seller.
Civil Code section 5550 requires a reserve study at least every three years with a visual inspection, reviewed annually by the board. On a 1974 building with an elevator, a pool and a sauna, the components that dominate the schedule are the lift, the roof, the plumbing risers, pool plant and any parking structure. Read the study for the percent funded figure and ask what has actually been replaced rather than what is merely scheduled.
Everything above is drawn from public records, city permit data and published sources. The association’s statutory disclosure package is the only authoritative answer on dues, rules, reserves, insurance and litigation — Ben will request it and read it with you before you remove contingencies.
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