Jury awards Katy Perry and LA archbishop $10M over sale of Los Feliz convent

It looks like a years-long court battle over a Los Feliz convent has paid off for Katy Perry.

A jury on Monday awarded the singer and the Los Angeles archbishop a combined $10 million in punitive damages over the long-delayed sale of the property, according to law firm McKool Smith Hennigan.

The sale was contested in Los Angeles Superior Court by LA-based designer and restauranteur Dana Hollister, who owns Brite Spot and Cliffs Edge, and a group of elderly nuns.

Perry agreed to purchase the convent from the church in 2014 for $14.5 million, but two nuns then claimed they had already sold the property to Hollister, who planned to turn it into a boutique hotel.

A Superior Court judge earlier this year found that the sisters did not have proper authority to make the sale, and a jury decided in November that Hollister should have known that. The jury found at that time that Hollister had deliberately interfered with the sale of the property and that punitive damages were warranted.

Now, in addition to $5 million in legal fees, Hollister will have to shell out $6.7 million to the church and another $3.3 million to Perry’s company, The Bird’s Nest, LLC.

That’s not a bad haul for Perry; last month, her manager said she had spent around $2.6 million fighting for the property.

The sprawling compound was built in 1927 by architect Bernard Maybeck as the private residence of auto dealer and broadcasting mogul Earle C. Anthony. In the past, Perry’s said she hopes to move into the property with her mother and grandmother.

• Jury sides with Katy Perry and LA Archdiocese in battle over Los Feliz convent [Curbed LA]
• Katy Perry’s legal battle with nuns over Los Feliz convent cost her $2.6M [Curbed LA]
• Katy Perry and Elderly Nuns Fighting For Control Of Spectacular Los Feliz Convent [Curbed LA]