A Los Angeles investor is continuing a legal fight against the city after the hotel beneath his planned rooftop nightclub was converted into a taxpayer-funded homeless shelter. Dennis Smith says the change created unsafe conditions and prevented his upscale venue from opening.

Smith developed ROME Nightclub on the rooftop of the LA Grand Hotel Downtown. His plans called for an exclusive venue with private booths, bottle service, and access through a rooftop helipad.

The investor said he poured millions of dollars into plans, permits, construction, and a liquor license. His goal was to open the nightclub for major events in Los Angeles, but the project became tangled in the city’s homelessness operation below.

The LA Grand Hotel Downtown closed to regular guests around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the property was converted into temporary housing rather than returning to ordinary hotel operations.

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Smith said the conversion came after he had already made his investment in the rooftop club. He said the hotel was then filled with homeless people, including drug addicts, creating unsafe conditions and other problems that blocked ROME Nightclub from opening.

In January 2024, ROME Nightclub sued hotel owner Wei Huang. The lawsuit alleged that converting the building into a homeless shelter produced safety problems and interfered with the nightclub’s operations.

A separate lawsuit was also pursued against the City of Los Angeles. That case placed the nightclub’s dispute squarely before city officials as Smith sought relief over what happened to his planned business.

By the middle of 2024, residents were moved out of the shelter. The hotel has not operated as a homeless shelter since then and has remained largely vacant, leaving the nightclub dispute unresolved despite the residents’ departure.

In March, a Los Angeles judge dismissed most of the claims against the city, citing issues that included government immunity. The ruling did not completely end the nightclub’s case against Los Angeles.

The judge allowed an inverse condemnation claim to continue. Through that claim, the plaintiffs are arguing that the city’s actions damaged their private property interests, although no trial date has been publicly announced.

The dispute received renewed attention through a video posted on X by Tomas Sidenfaden. Sidenfaden ran for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and lost his primary race last June.

In the video, Sidenfaden said the city spent more than $100 million on the taxpayer funded homeless shelter. Smith also explained that his legal battle with the city remains underway.

Smith highlighted another taxpayer expense looming over the dispute. He said the city will hire outside counsel whose legal work will also be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Rather than keep the courtroom fight grinding forward, Smith publicly appealed to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for a resolution. “Mayor Bass, stop fighting us. A settlement, that’s it. Let’s meet,” Smith said.

Investor Dennis Smith spent millions to revive DTLA nightlife with a visionary rooftop club in time for the World Cup and the Olympics, only to have the hotel underneath it turned into a $100m taxpayer-funded homeless shelter.

Now it’s empty and the city is trying to stiff him. https://t.co/tJIAxQn9if — Tomás Sidenfaden (@tomassidenfaden) November 8, 2026

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt also reposted the video. Pratt had campaigned on confronting excessive regulation and homelessness in the city, and his assessment of the investment climate was blunt.

“You simply cannot invest in Los Angeles,” Pratt wrote. The rooftop nightclub remains tied up in litigation while the hotel underneath it sits largely vacant and the surviving inverse condemnation claim moves ahead without a publicly announced trial date.

You simply cannot invest in Los Angeles.

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) November 8, 2026

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