USA-KATY PERRY Judge gives Katy Perry a chance to potentially rent ex-convent in Los Angeles

Record ID: 145285

  • Title: USA-KATY PERRY Judge gives Katy Perry a chance to potentially rent ex-convent in Los Angeles
  • Date: 30th July 2015
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 30, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NUNS ARRIVING AT LOS ANGELES COURTHOUSE ATTORNEY FOR THE ARCHDIOCESES MICHAEL HENNIGAN EXITING LOS ANGELES COURTHOUSE HENNIGAN PREPARING TO SPEAK TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL HENNIGAN, ATTORNEY FOR THE ARCHDIOCESES, SAYING: "We are extremely pleased with the judge's ruling today. He h
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA32PY2TBVIHEH4OMV4Q2MHSSIA
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Katy Perry, who grew up the daughter of Protestant Christian pastors and shot to fame with the song "I Kissed a Girl," may get her chance to live in a former convent.
    A Los Angeles Superior Court judge, in the face of opposition to a sale of the property to the superstar from nuns who once lived there, stopped short on Thursday (July 30) of saying the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can sell Perry the 8-acre convent built like a Roman villa for the $14.5 million she offered.
    But Judge James Chalfant also rejected a separate attempt by the nuns through their institute Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to sell the ex-convent to restaurateur Dana Hollister in a $15.5 million deal.
    The archdiocese last month sued to block the transaction and Hollister's plan to turn the convent into a boutique hotel. On Thursday, Chalfant said the archdiocese has the right to dispose of the property in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles for the benefit of the nuns.
    "We are extremely pleased with the judge's ruling today. He has ruled invalid the Dana Hollister sale. We are looking forward to 45 days from now when we determine what the rental value of that property is going to be. We think it is going to be vastly more than Ms. Hollister thinks it's going to be and we think she's likely not to be living there after 45 days," said Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the archdiocese.
    "I think it's simple -- we win they lose. Ms. Hollister has to leave the property eventually."
    Randy Snyder, Hollister's attorney, says Hollister will proceed with the trial and stand by a grant deed given to them by the sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
    "Ms. Hollister is in a position to pay for the entire property right now. Ms. Hollister's closing was done on an emergency basis at a time when the Archdiocese was threatening to transfer the property off and sell it to Ms. Perry without the input of the nuns. We're concerned. We're concerned about the benefit of the nuns," said Randy Snyder, Hollister's attorney.
    Chalfant allowed Hollister to temporarily retain possession of the property as long as she pays $25,000 a month in rent. In a twist, an attorney for the archdiocese told the judge pop star Perry would like to submit a competing bid to rent the property.
    The judge, in expressing concern the property is maintained and the nuns' needs are met, set a September 15 hearing for attorneys to present arguments on who should rent it.
    Perry wants to buy the former convent to live there, her attorney Michael Starler told reporters.
    Dozens of nuns once lived at the convent, and the five nuns still alive hope to share net proceeds of a sale, said their attorney Bernie Resser. The last nun moved out in 2012, he said.
    Chalfant said another judge will have to rule on whether archdiocese officials followed proper formalities in changing by-laws of the nuns' institute to arrange a sale, and the lawsuit could last two years.
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