Scientology quietly acquires $13.5 million converted church near Big Blue: But why?

[The former church at 4975 Sunset Blvd]

We’re certainly used to hearing that Scientology has acquired new buildings, but the location of a new $13.5 million acquisition has us a bit puzzled: It’s a set of creative offices in a converted church just a few blocks west of the “Big Blue” Scientology headquarters complex on Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood, also known in Scientology as “Pacific Area Command.”

But PAC base and its components — the former Cedars of Lebanon “horseshoe” building, the American Saint Hill Organization, the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles “Ideal Org” — have been set for decades. We can’t remember the last time there were any new acquisitions adjoining or near it.

What would Scientology leader David Miscavige want with a $13.5 million converted church so close to Big Blue?

We’re fortunate to hear anything about it at all, thanks to some stellar work by journalist Jack Witthaus at CoStar News, a commercial real estate information bureau. It was Witthaus who realized that the buyer was actually a nonprofit that was part of the Church of Scientology.

The church on Sunset was built in 1925, and in 2014 it was in derelict condition. That year, Full Grace Church sold the building for $3.7 million to developer Robert Herscu, who wanted to turn it into offices for creative types. Herscu ran into some trouble with preservationists, however, when he removed the original stained glass windows after the city mistakenly gave him a permit for it.

In 2015, the space held its opening event as “Big Art Church,” which LA Weekly described as “a studio, gallery, school and performance venue in a a former church built in the 1920s in East Hollywood.”

[The interior of ‘Big Art Church’]

We’re not sure who the tenants are today, but the building was recently back on the market and it was advertised by Madison Partners as being 100 percent leased: So any buyer would already be guaranteed rental income.

Knowing Scientology, however, they will soon boot out those renters, even if it costs them a pretty penny to do so. (We’ve seen the same thing at other locations when Scientology purchased already-leased buildings for “Ideal Org” projects.)

Anyway, the buyer in the transaction is listed as “Building Management Services,” which is about as generic as you can get. But records show that BMS had been created as a nonprofit in 1987 as a subsidiary of Scientology.

According to those same records, the CEO of BMS is Coburn Knight, a former Guardian’s Office member who is Clear #12,637. Knight is also CEO of a Scientology property front we’re more used to hearing about, Social Betterment Properties International, Inc., which was the entity fighting over property for a Narconon rehab in Maryland a few years ago, and that bought the former Larry Hagman estate for a Narconon in Ojai, California.

So there’s no question that it is Scientology which has bought this fancy office just a few blocks from Big Blue. But why?

We turned to Mike Rinder for his thoughts.

“BMS is one of the entities set up to buy properties. Sort of like CSRT. It might even own the Hollywood Guaranty Building and other properties in Los Angeles, but I am not really sure,” Mike tells us.

“Coby Knight has been in the Tax Accounting department of OSA Int for decades — along with Ellen Reynolds and Jim Morrow. He is just a name on the paper of the entity. He isn’t ‘CEO’ of anything. As for why they bought it. Not a clue. They’re trying to spend money to buy real estate because they are accumulating too much cash? But then I don’t know why they’re not using the money to finish more Ideal Orgs. Unless Miscavige doesn’t want to finish them but is happy for them to keep dragging out. It’s a very strange purchase. Three blocks from LA Org? Beats me.”

What do you think? With an Ideal Org, Advanced Org, and Saint Hill Org at Big Blue, and with the Scientology Media Productions complex just down the street, what does Miscavige need another churchy office for?

We want to hear your guesses.

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