Scottish DJ and document producer Calvin Harris has fallen out together with his enterprise supervisor Thomas St. John to the tune of $22.5 million over funding for a large-scale actual property improvement within the coronary heart of Hollywood.
The $500-million mixed-use mission deliberate for the busy intersection of Sundown Boulevard and Highland Avenue “has been, at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud,” Harris mentioned in courtroom paperwork. St. John has denied any wrongdoing.
In line with an arbitration demand filed in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom,Harris, whose authorized title is Adam Wiles, mentioned he made a $10-million mortgage and a $12.5-million fairness funding within the mission known as the CMNTY Tradition Campus meant to have a recording studio cultivated to the tastes of high musical artists together with eating places and high-rise flats.
Publicly proposed in 2022, the event has but to be permitted by the town. Harris’ attorneys mentioned he invested within the mission in 2023 when St. John “became short of cash” and “reached out to one of his most successful clients for an emergency cash infusion.”
DJ Calvin Harris, proven in 2022, mentioned he made a $10-million mortgage and a $12.5-million fairness funding within the proposed CMNTY Tradition Campus.
(James Heaton / Related Press)
Harris invested $10 million as a mortgage and $12.5 million in fairness within the mission, attorneys mentioned within the courtroom submitting.
Shortly after the fairness funding, St. John “distributed over $11 million dollars to himself,” the demand letter mentioned. St. John was Harris’ monetary advisor for about 13 years, ending in April.
The proposed CMNTY Tradition Campus drew broad consideration in early 2022 when plans for a 13-story indoor-outdoor advanced had been submitted by St. John and Philip Lawrence, then proprietor of storied Hollywood recording studio Document Plant.
The practically two-acre advanced throughout the road from Hollywood Excessive College was designed by HKS, the structure agency that designed SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The purpose was to meld a top-flight recording studio with workplaces to be rented to folks within the leisure enterprise. There can be public areas, together with an auditorium and an amphitheater the place guests might hear concert events in a landscaped setting excessive above the road.
An earlier proposed design for the CMNTY Tradition Campus included workplaces as a substitute of flats.
(HKS Architects)
The advanced was meant to have a number of the highest-profile recording studios within the business with pre- and post-production services.
In 2024, St. John introduced that with the workplace rental market nonetheless comfortable within the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, he would search metropolis approval for an alternate plan for the positioning that may have housing as a substitute of workplaces. The brand new plan known as for 734 flats in two towers of 34 and 38 tales.
There can be an acre of backyard house for tenants atop a five-level storage and a music recording studio at avenue degree, the place there would even be a restaurant and maybe a coffeehouse.
St. John’s legal professional, Sasha Frid, didn’t present a remark about his shopper’s battle with Harris, however mentioned in an announcement to Selection that Harris “actively pursued this development opportunity.”
“Unhappy with the pace of the project, he chose to pursue private arbitration to assert his discontent,” Frid mentioned. “It’s no secret that due to interest rates and other market factors, real estate projects are taking longer to build. But the development is very much viable and expected to have a $900+ million valuation when completed. Mr. St. John denies any wrongdoing.”
Harris’ attorneys didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In line with the arbitration doc filed this month, St. John acknowledged that he’s accountable for the past-due $10-million mortgage from Harris and an extra $1.9 million in curiosity.
