Judge leaves Katy Perry’s bid to purchase convent in limbo

An L.A. County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the sale of the property and an adjacent house of prayer by Sisters of the Immaculate Heart to restaurant owner Dana Hollister was “clearly invalid”.

Property developer Hollister thought that she had persuaded the nuns to sell the convent to her. Archbishop Gomez protested, saying that Hollister had “taken advantage” of the nuns.

The judge, expressing concern the property is maintained and the nuns’ needs are met, set a Sept 15 hearing for attorneys to present arguments on who should rent it. Until 2011, they lived in the Romanesque villa on the 8-acre hilltop estate. But he also decided that representatives for Los Angeles’ Catholic archbishop, Jose Gomez, who wants to sell the building to Perry for $14.5m (£9.3m), and Perry would not be allowed to gain access to the convent.

Although both parties agreed that the property should be sold, they are fighting over the control of the proceeds and whether or not Perry or Hollister are suitable buyers.

An LA judge may have made a ruling in the Katy Perry convent drama, but the fight is far from over! She’s taken possession of the place, and has started fixing it up. “It’s fascinating on all different levels”, an observer told Bloomberg’s Edvard Pettersson.

However, if Perry and the archbishop sensed victory, the judge had disappointing news.

Judge Chalfant, however, doesn’t want the property to sit vacant and has officially declared a battle over the $15 million-valued site’s rent.

The five sisters no longer live in the former convent, which was once the home to more than 100 nuns. She had planned to convert the property into a boutique hotel, and has already registered a deed for it, which will need to be unwound.

Hollister called the allegation “ridiculous” and defended the sisters’ mental fitness.

Hennigan wanted Hollister ordered off the property immediately, alleging that she had damaged an altar. “OLD AGE does not necessarily = SENILITY”, she wrote. He says the archbishop initially was cool to the idea and said it was not for sale.

“Obviously, Catholic nuns are not particularly enamored of the image that Katy Perry puts out”, he said outside the court.

Marcia Facundo is a freelance journalist who now reports from Los Angeles, California.

Perry did not attend the hearing, but her lawyer watched the proceedings.

FILE – This Monday, June 29, 2015 file photo shows the gate to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary property in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.

Sister Jean-Marie might not buy that.

“We’ll have a battle of potential lessees of this property for the benefit of the sisters”, Chalfant said.