The Archdiocese of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Friday asking a judge to block the proposed sale by a nonprofit religious organization of a Los Feliz property currently used as a convent and a house of prayer for priests, which a woman wants to buy and convert to a boutique hotel with a restaurant and bar.
The complaint was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Dana Hollister, the nightlife maven behind such eating spots as Villains Tavern, Brite Spot and Cliff’s Edge. The suit asks that that the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which holds title to the property at in the 3400 block of Waverly Drive, be barred from selling or leasing the property without the archdiocese’s consent.
The suit also seeks cancellation of a sales agreement between the organization and Hollister. The transfer is currently scheduled to close after a 180-day “due diligence” period that Hollister can extend up to a year, the suit states.
Despite not yet having any legal right to the property, Hollister “has posted security guards to prevent (the archdiocese) … from entering the property,” the suit states.
Hollister could not be immediately reached.
According to the lawsuit, the archdiocese’s lease of the buildings for the priests’ house of prayer has a remaining term of 77 years.
“Terminating that lease cannot occur without the consent and agreement of the archdiocese, which is highly unlikely to occur under this transation,” the suit states.
The Sisters of the Most Holy’s activities are overseen by the archdiocese under orders issued in 2005 and 2013 in which the Rev. Thomas Anslow was appointed to act as the legal agent authorized to act in all civil matters on behalf of the institute, the suit states. Despite such oversight, “unauthorized persons” associated with the Sisters of the Most Holy organization in April and May reached an agreement to sell the property to Hollister, the suit says.
“Neither (the archdiose) nor Father Anslow consented to the sale to (Hollister), in writing or otherwise,” according to the lawsuit.
The proposed sale to Hollister has put a “cloud” on the title to the property that interferes with the archdiocese’s ability to enter into other transactions regarding it, the suit states.
