Company: Sun Rose Spectacular
Markets: West Hollywood, California
Address: 8430 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Email: info@sunrosespectacular.com
Phone: 213-999-1992
Sun Rose Spectacular operates the largest digital spectacular on the Sunset Strip. The Sun Rose Spectacular includes more than 5,000 square feet of full motion digital signage on the exterior of the Sun Rose Hotel. Billboard Insider talked with Steve McNeely, who, with George Manyak, manages the digital spectacular, to learn more about the project.
What’s the history of this sign?
The property was originally called The Pendry, which was managed by the Montage group. It was built on the site of the old House of Blues, and part of the deal when the House of Blues was taken down was that West Hollywood required the hotel to maintain a music venue on the property, The Sun Rose Room. The digital spectacular itself was one of the first revenue-share deals in West Hollywood. The digital went live in 4Q 2020. Daktronics did a custom digital design unit and has been a great partner keeping the monster in top shape.
The Sun Rose Spectacular is big
It’s over 5,000 square feet of digital display surface, 10mm pixel pitch, plus 3D anamorphic capability. It’ll just take your breath away — you’re staring at a 75-foot-high display on the west face. It wraps along the side of the building to the north and east faces…plus the ribbons.
Who advertises?
Hulu has been a big supporter from the inception— they just renewed their contract. TikTok, Disney/ABC, Warner, Focus…. the usual luxury and entertainment advertisers. It’s real premium inventory and we attract all the premium brands…Tiffany, Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Van Clef, Rolex, Omega, Patron, Veuve.
Ownership changed in 2024
In April 2024 the original developers were bought out by a partnership between Davidson Kempner and Monarch. Davidson Kempner is a major, very diverse, opportunistic equity and credit investor…really big financial entity ….as is Monarch. DK was an original CCO player I had worked with Davidson Kempner on some prior OOH projects They called me for help on the digital spectacular.
Have there been discussions about selling the sign?
There were some early discussions by the new ownership to test the market. My advice was: if you can get the right price, and partner then consider it. A process was run in late 2024 into early 2025. After evaluating the options, ownership decided the digital was too valuable and retained the asset.
What sets Sunrose Spectacular apart from other spectaculars?
There are so many. First, the physical presence…as I said before, it literally takes your breath away — the scale and location in the heart of West Hollywood are so unique and irreplaceable. Second, while West Hollywood has allowed several other digital developments, none compara to the Sun Rose’s uniqueness…there is nothing like it in the immediate Sunset market, nor LA for that matter. The Sun Rose is Time Square without the clutter and competition. Third, ownership very wisely bifurcated the digital spectacular from the hotel with a 99 year lease. that also allows us to develop new advertisers like liquor. And finally, we actively manage our inventory lo insure every client exceeds their contracted share of voice. It also allows the Sun Rose to actively support the West Hollywood community initiatives. Also, I would be remiss not to mention the absolutely worldcalss content management work by our partner MBA…they flawiessly create the client experience and awesome performance photos for the client
You also do experiential.
Absolutely…experiential, in real life! It is an important initiative for us to broaden our client deliverables. We’ve been working closely with the hotel management on programming the sign as part of a broader entertainment venue experience. We do major events – the Rams are big fans…they loved the 75-foot-tall Matthew Stafford MVP campaign.
We’ve done a lot of high-profile activations…the Swarovski jewel, luxury autos on the motor court plaza. Luxury brands like Dior will sometimes take over the entire sign for an hour, two hours, three hours for a client even….we call it a “Roadblock”. It has become really popular. And we can also do streaming to the digital…live concerts, client events and even a wedding.
