Pack of coyotes appears to have taken over unfinished West Hollywood condo complex

A pack of coyotes appears to have taken over an empty condominium complex that is under construction in West Hollywood, sparking safety concerns for residents living nearby.

Neighbors believe that as many as six coyotes live in the massive abandoned construction site, capturing nightly photos and videos of the pack. 

"It's kind of interesting to walk out of your apartment and look up and there's a coyote looking at you," said Cindy Sorley, who lives nearby. "The other night when I came home, there were six right around my car."

She's one of many who are now on high alert because of the creatures, which they first noticed towards the start of the year. Now, they see them daily as they traipse down sidewalks and driveways. 

"We see them on the second and third floors, basking in the sun, pretty wild," said Tyler Lennier, another resident.

West Hollywood's city website notes an increase in coyote sightings across the city since the start of 2026.

State wildlife officials say the trend, occurring across much of Los Angeles County, can be linked to earlier-in-the-year warming and the thousands of acres of habitat destroyed by the Eaton and Palisades fires in 2025. 

Locals say that they believe the influx is also connected to the building, which has now been derelict for years. 

"People are avoiding even walking their dogs by that structure, out of fear, obviously," said Collin Newman. "You shouldn't have to fear getting out of your car and suddenly be surrounded by, you know, half a dozen wild animals. There's just, that's not the society we live in, so animal control has to really kind of get on their game and do something about it, because no one should feel unsafe."

Overall, neighbors say that they're hopeful a humane solution can be found, knowing that the ongoing living situation is a risk for humans, pets and the coyotes. 

"I mean, they just shouldn't be here at all, you know?" said Michael Laselva. "If you look at them, they're fragile. They have no food, no water."

Wildlife officials say that relocating the animals sounds easier than it actually will be. 

"This is just gonna be a mess. People are gonna be begging for trapping and killing," said Mary Cummins, a wildlife rescuer and the founder of Animal Advocates. "It's gonna kill cats and small dogs in the area. People are gonna be very upset."

Instead, she says there's a humane way to go about solving the problem. Step one is getting residents to stop feeding the coyotes and leaving out bowls of water for them. 

Cummins says that there are at least three coyote pups living on the property, along with an alpha male, alpha female and other possible family members.

"When they communicate with each other at night and howl at each other, it freaks people out," said Cathy Cook, a resident who runs an Instagram account documenting coyote sightings. "I definitely think that there could be people that are fearful and do something to potentially harm them, which I hope doesn't happen."

CBS LA also reached out to the construction company on the fences surrounding the property, but did not hear back. Cummins has also tried to contact company offiicals, hopeful that they can help haze the coyotes off the lot by playing loud noises. 

West Hollywood city officials say that construction on the 22-unit condo complex halted in 2024 and all of their permits have since expired.