Katy Perry's Plan to Convert 3-Acre Estate Into Retreat for Priests Fails
Pop star Katy Perry's plan to buy a 3-acre estate in Los Angeles for the Catholic Archdiocese to use as a retreat for priests and bishops has failed.
According to the Los Angeles Times, The Bird Nest, a limited liability company connected to Perry, had planned to buy the property known as the Bekins estate on behalf of the archdiocese to replace their current House of Prayer. Earlier this week, Curbed Los Angeles reported that the deal fell through.
Adrian Alarcon, the director of media relations for the archdiocese, explained that they could not move forward with the transaction since the permits they needed to turn the residence into a retreat were not likely to be approved.
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"The property was determined to not be an acceptable replacement for the House of Prayer, as approval of the necessary conditional use permits and entitlements seemed unlikely," Alarcon told The Eastsider. "As a result, the transaction is not proceeding."
"Last December, the project seemed on track, with the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council recommending that the Planning Department issue a conditional-use permit needed to convert the residential property into a retreat," The Eastsider reported on Friday.
Perry would have then donated the Bekins estate to the church, receiving a potential tax write-off, according to the Glendale News Press.
Aside from attempting to purchase the estate for the Los Angeles archdiocese, Perry has allied with them in a two-year court battle in which she's seeking to purchase a Los Angeles Catholic convent. Nuns from Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary have attempted to block the archdiocese from selling their convent to Perry which is located in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Although the sisters haven't lived in the convent since 2011, they've made it clear that they don't want Perry to take over the $14.5 million property that includes a church. In 2015, Sister Rita Callanan told The Los Angeles Times that she also didn't approve of Perry's music videos.
"Well, I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and ... if it's all right to say, I wasn't happy with any of it," Sister Rita told The Los Angeles Times.
In 2015, the publication reported that the pop star visited the nuns in an attempt to persude them to sell their property to her.
"Sister Rita said that at the meeting with Perry in May, the singer made a fairly good impression, telling the nuns she wanted to live on the property with her mother and grandmother, sit in the meditation garden, sip green tea and find herself," the LA Times reported.
Perry was raised by Christian ministers but no longer subscribes to the faith. In a 2013 interview with Marie Claire, Perry described her new belief system.
"I'm not Buddhist, I'm not Hindu, I'm not Christian, but I still feel like I have a deep connection with God. I pray all the time — for self-control, for humility," she said. "There's a lot of gratitude in it. Just saying 'thank you' sometimes is better than asking for things."
