Residents voice safety concerns as proper action stalls and the predators are increasingly comfortable with human contact
An abandoned condominium construction site in West Hollywood is finally seeing its first tenants — a pack of wild coyotes. Los Angeles residents have voiced growing safety concerns following the piling number of sightings of the predators.
The city of West Hollywood is pressing for the owner of the property off of North Spaulding Avenue to address the concerns surrounding the coyote sightings as the site sits idle. With neighbors first recalling sightings at the beginning of this year, sightings are nearing daily occurrences.
Circulating footage on social media and eyewitness accounts suggest there is a family of up to six in the abandoned site, with wildlife specialists identifying to CBS News at least three puppies, two adult alphas and possible other family members.
This is a growing trend in the L.A. area, as sightings of coyotes have been reported in Santa Monica, the Pacific Palisades, Culver City, Picfair Village, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey and the Miracle Mile in the last two weeks.
Many residents and officials point to the mass devastation caused by the Palisades fire in early 2025, incinerating nearly 24,000 acres of land that inhabited wildlife. As spring ushers in puppy season for coyotes, summer follows with intense heat, scarcity of water and adequate shelter, driving native wildlife into the city.
The idle structure sitting on North Spaulding Avenue was en route to becoming a 22-unit condominium building on a 19,500 square-foot property before stalling in 2024. Since then, updates have been scarce as building permits have since expired.
The inactivity has subsequently made it still enough to house the coyote family, leading to an increase in small animal attacks and very up-close sightings in the surrounding neighborhood. Despite residents reportedly reaching out to city officials to address the safety concerns for some time, there has been no physical action taken.
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According to the city, they have reached out to the representatives of the property owner, Clement Tung, requiring him to hire wildlife control to humanely remove the animals; however, there is no update on this action or regarding the state of the building itself.