CIM Sues Private Members Club Over Alleged Unpaid Rent

A CIM-connected entity claims a social club called the Gathering Spot owes hundreds of thousands of dollars on its West Adams space.

But the landlord is going after millions.

The breakdown of what’s owed includes base rent of $546,000, common area costs of $203,000 and more. That comes out to a total of around $828,000 owed, per CIM, for the club’s 16,000-square-foot spot at 5211 West Adams Boulevard. The “tenant has been delinquent on rent payments since October 2025,” a complaint dated mid-June reads. The club’s CEO disputed the claims.

In anticipation of a trial that wouldn’t happen until next year, CIM wants future rent, plus attorneys’ fees incurred, interest, escalation charges and more — which, by its calculation, amounts to almost $7 million, per the complaint.

CIM, founded by Shaul Kuba, Richard Ressler and Avi Shemesh, has been credited and critiqued for its remaking of the West Adams neighborhood. Representatives for CIM did not respond to a request for comment; attorneys for CIM declined.

A copy of the triple net lease, signed by the Gathering Spot CEO Ryan Wilson and a then-CIM principal, was included in the complaint. It was amended multiple times — most recently in December 2024, which extended the lease until 2034. The latest amendment meant the monthly base rent started at $59,000 and reached about $78,000. But there was a caveat. Because the tenant was previously past due on rent (before the latest complaint), another about $9,000 was due each month.

The Black-owned club, where Drake, LeBron James and Kamala Harris were apparently guests, closed its West Adams doors earlier this year, but still has locations in Atlanta and Washington, DC, and isn’t giving up on Los Angeles. Wilson said there were persistent issues with the building that it raised with the landlord on multiple occasions. That allegedly includes repeated flooding, a months-long out-of-service elevator and ongoing sewer-odor that made the space unworkable, per the CEO.

“We dispute CIM’s characterization and its claims, and we’ll address them through the appropriate legal channels,” Wilson said in a statement to The Real Deal.

A leasing brochure for 5211 West Adams Boulevard boasts a move-in ready piece of real estate that has a bar, kitchen and dining rooms on the first floor and creative offices on the second floor, though it is unclear how recent it is.