LA rooftop nightclub owner sues city after hotel underneath turned into taxpayer-funded homeless shelter

Investor Dennis Smith developed ROME Nightclub as an upscale venue featuring private booths, bottle service, and access via a rooftop helipad on the LA Grand Hotel Downtown. Smith has said he invested millions of dollars in plans, permits, construction, and a liquor license with the goal of opening the club for major events in the city.

The hotel had closed to regular guests around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, it was converted into temporary housing. Smith said that after his investment, the hotel was filled with homeless people, including drug addicts, which created an unsafe condition and other issues that blocked the nightclub from opening.

In January of 2024, ROME Nightclub sued the hotel’s owner, Wei Huang, alleging the conversion into a homeless shelter caused safety problems and interfered with their operations. A separate lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles was also pursued.

By mid-2024, residents of the shelter were moved out. The hotel has not operated as a homeless shelter and has remained largely vacant since then. In March, a Los Angeles judge dismissed most of the claims against the city, citing issues such as government immunity. The inverse condemnation claim, where plaintiffs are arguing that the city’s actions damaged their private property interests, was allowed to continue. However, no trial date has been publicly announced.

In a video posted on X by Tomas Sidenfaden, who ran for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and lost his primary race last June, Sidenfaden said that the city spent over $100 million on the taxpayer-funded homeless shelter.

Smith detailed that the legal battle with the city is still ongoing, highlighting that the city will now be hiring outside counsel that will be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

“Mayor Bass, stop fighting us. A settlement, that’s it. Let’s meet,” Smith said.

The video was also reposted by former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, who campaigned on fighting over-regulation and homelessness in the city.

“You simply cannot invest in Los Angeles,” Pratt wrote.