The Sweetgreen brothers are taking over Silver Lake.
Plus Lorde's thing for Barry's, Good Luck Bar goss, and a Highland Park gem.
Happy Monday, everyone. Thanks to everyone who had nice things to say about Friday’s Lauren Sherman interview, and welcome to all the very cool fashion people who’ve subscribed in the past few days. Multiple readers reached out to say they ordered items from Literary Sport per Lauren’s rec. Clearly, influencer marketing exists for a reason.
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The Sweetgreen brothers are taking over Silver Lake.
About two years ago, long before the Rag became a reality, a friend pointed to a building in Silver Lake and eyed me conspiratorially. “These guys,” they said, “own all of Sunset Junction.” They urged me to do some digging.
“All of Sunset Junction,” I quickly discovered, wasn’t much of an exaggeration. In the past half-decade or so, brothers Daniel and Ryan Neman have acquired a staggering number of the commercial buildings on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. Under the banner of their development firm, RYDA, the brothers have picked up the properties at 3501, 3300, 3210-3218, 3209-3227, and 3004 Sunset Boulevard; 1529 Griffith Park Boulevard; and numerous others in the immediate area.
Through these acquisitions and subsequent retrofits, the brothers have been almost single-handedly responsible for the arrival of a slew of higher-end (mostly) chain businesses in the neighborhood — or, what I’ve repeatedly heard referred to as “the Williamsburgification of Silver Lake.” No topic stirs fervent debate on the east side quite like the evolution of retail and dining (and the attendant influx of rich people), and I can’t help but think a community Q&A with the Nemans would be the entertainment event of the decade.
Interestingly, Daniel and Ryan Neman are the younger siblings of Sweetgreen cofounder Jonathan Neman, who multiple people have told me is silently invested in his brothers’ eastward expansion. The brothers are also the offspring of a successful Beverly Hills-based textile and real estate family (if you Google RYDA’s office address, it’s actually their dad’s Neman Brothers Textile Importing building). Capital, it would seem, is not hard to come by.
Businesses the Neman brothers have brought to Silver Lake include, but are not limited to:
Baggu, 3300 W. Sunset Blvd
Bravo Toast, 1529 Griffith Park Blvd
D.S. & Durga, 3300 W. Sunset Blvd
Filson, 3210 W. Sunset Blvd
Free People, 3216 W. Sunset Blvd
Kreation Organic Juicery, 3501 W. Sunset Blvd
Heyday, 3505 W. Sunset Blvd
New Balance, 3300 W. Sunset Blvd
Malin + Goetz, 3300 W. Sunset Blvd
Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream, 1529 Griffith Park Blvd
Sunspel, 3312 W. Sunset Blvd
Veo Optics, 3212 W. Sunset Blvd
The Win~Dow, 1529 Griffith Park Blvd
And buildings they’ve developed include:
3300 W. Sunset Blvd, aka Sunset Row
When I moved to LA, this was an auto body shop. Now it’s very much not. The former auto bays are now home to D.S. & Durga, New Balance, Baggu, Sunspel, Malin + Goetz, Xibei Dumplings, Akila Eyewear, and (very soon) a new location of Cypress Park’s Loquat Coffee. There’s also going to be an Italian spot called Bar di Bello, which I’m…very excited about given everything I’ve heard thus far. Extra credit for the courtyard plantings here, I’m a fan.
1529 Griffith Park Boulevard
Home to The Win~Dow, Bravo Toast, and Mashti Malone’s. I order from The Win~Dow a concerning amount, but I don’t trust anywhere that just sells toast.
3501 Sunset Boulevard
This place houses Kreation, Heyday, and Omakase by Osen. I have never eaten anything at Kreation that wasn’t wholly disgusting, so…that’s my take.
3210 Sunset Boulevard
Excuse the slightly dated picture — 3210 now hosts Free People, Filson, Golden Age, and Veo Optics. I’d highly recommend Golden Age for new and vintage denim. Jeremy Allen White agrees!
3004 Sunset Boulevard
This is currently in the final stages of construction, and will soon feature 74 market-rate apartments.
3209 Sunset Boulevard
Currently home to another old auto body shop (lightly retrofitted and, through 6/25, hosting the Converse x Golf Le Fleur pop up), the Nemans have proposed 86 apartments and 8,000 square feet of commercial space.
4017 W. Sunset Boulevard
Most recently, the Nemans acquired the home of Mohawk Man (and the apartments above). Time will tell what’s in store for this one.
If anyone has more intel on the Neman brothers’ rapid east side expansion…you know where to find me.
🍽️ And now for some table scraps…
Lorde does Barry’s Bootcamp several times per week. Barry’s got a big private equity injection earlier this year and honestly, I thought it was on a downhill slide. I went there a lot in, like, 2019. But Ella told Jason and Chris (in a frankly unmissable episode of HLG) that she swears by it! There’s a nice one in Pasadena if you’re looking to give it a shot.
LA desperately needs $2b to lease 2,700 buses for the Olympics. The federal government has yet to approve the city’s request for funding, so…it might be carmageddon out there. Also — LA28 organizers believe tourists will take the buses (if they can source them), but they’re worried locals will turn their noses up. Angelenos love to complain about the lack of public transit here…until they have an opportunity to take public transit.
Jeremy O. Harris cast Amber Heard in his new play. A truly excellent study in stunt casting.
Is Good Luck Bar returning to Hillhurst? Yesterday, a tipster told Hot Goss on Hillhurst that the beloved Los Feliz speakeasy might be reopening. There might be a speakeasy opening in the space, but Good Luck Bar (sadly) confirmed they’re not part of the effort. Thanks to Alison for the tip here — I’ll keep everyone posted as this plays out.
Per the same Hot Goss tip, there’s a gym and cold plunge facility opening nearby.
Synthetic workout gear is out. I’ve been thinking a lot about microplastics recently (without taking any action), so this one hit me hard. Per Health Gossip, synthetic workout clothes are a huge offender here, since heat and moisture during exercise speeds up microplastic absorption. Cotton is in, and honestly, it looks cooler.
Pasadena is canceling swim lessons at its city parks. Citing fears about ICE raids, Pasadena officials have paused all summer swim programming. It’s…really bleak out there right now.
Jenny Gross wrote a phenomenal story about octogenarians hitting the club. Does anyone know if this exists in Los Angeles? I’d really like to go if so.
If you’ve ever wanted to see Jacob Elordi getting blushed in a blouse…
48 films scored California tax credits totaling $96mm, according to the California Film Commission. Ang Lee’s new movie, the One of Them Days sequel, and a big-budget Netflix title (plus 45 more studio and indie films) will shoot in the greater LA area as a result. Also, I really loved One of Them Days and I’m glad they’re running it back.
Fendi is in discussions with Willy Chavarria. His blazer for Brad Pitt sure got a lot of attention.
And here’s a truly great listing in Highland Park. Literal steps from Hippo and Kitchen Mouse, this 1903 manse has been fully restored (and there’s a pool!). It looks like a movie set, and I’m into it.
I live right next to the Vista — your newsletter is such a fun read. Thanks for writing 😆
Hey! This is great.. I’m a NYC transplant & landed here & I relate to ordering from Win-doh a concerning amount .. including (wTF) a s’mores milkshake 😬😬😂😂