So an archbishop, a group of nuns, a hotelier, and Katy Perry have been scrapping it out over a beautiful convent property in the hills of Los Feliz. Today a judge entered the fray and he has a new punchline: instead of Katy Perry and the hotelier, Dana Hollister, fighting to buy the property, the judge is going to take a while figuring things out and has told the pair they should fight over who gets to rent the place. Judge James C. Chalfant actually said "We'll have a battle of potential lessees," according to the New York Times. This guy knows a good story.
The few remaining elderly nuns of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary made a deal to sell her their eight-acre property to Hollister for $15.5 million, and they say they had permission from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez to do so (the convent shut down in 2011). But meanwhile Gomez was making a deal with Perry—who has wanted the convent for years—to buy the place for $14.5 million. By the time that was settled, Hollister had already taken over the property and started on various cleaning and restoration projects; she intends to turn the convent into a hotel (which seems unlikely, considering this is a wealthy residential neighborhood, but let's leave that aside for now). The archbishop wants her out, the nuns are suspicious of Katy Perry's sexy pop star-ness, and everyone is enjoying the show.
Anyway, at the first hearing today, Chalfant said that sale to Hollister "was improper and invalid," and that he would enter a preliminary injunction that would keep the nuns from selling her the convent. BUT he also said he'd let her to hold on to it at least until the next hearing on September 15. AND he also said he would block Perry from buying the convent. He added that the whole mess "may take two years to resolve." "You're not selling to Katy Perry anytime soon," he told the archbishop's legal team, according to the Guardian.
In the meantime, he'd hate for the gorgeous spread (built in 1927 for a prominent Packard car dealer) to sit empty, so he suggested Hollister and Perry compete to rent it and told them to draw up proposals before the next hearing.
· Plan by Judge May Allow Pop Star Katy Perry to Rent Convent [NYT]
· Katy Perry and Elderly Nuns Fighting For Control Of Spectacular Los Feliz Convent [Curbed LA]