Promoter Sues City Over Greek Theatre Contract

House of Blues Concerts Inc., which had sought a contract to operate the Greek Theatre, sued the city of Los Angeles on Tuesday, alleging illegalities by the City Council when it extended the current operator’s lease.

Without competitively bidding the contract, the council voted to allow Nederlander-Greek Inc., a politically connected group, to continue running the Greek.

House of Blues Concerts, which runs the Universal Amphitheatre, alleges that the council violated several city and state laws, including environmental quality acts.

“It is the most extensive list of violations that I’ve ever seen in 20 years,” said George Mihlsten, an attorney and lobbyist with Latham & Watkins, which filed the lawsuit in Superior Court.

The lawsuit claims that the city conspired with Nederlander to avoid an open bidding process, that the environmental impacts of proposed modifications to the Greek were not fully studied, and that the council approved the wrong contract--agreeing to an earlier version instead of the more current document.

City officials had not seen the lawsuit Tuesday and said they could not comment.

Council members narrowly approved the extension last week, after heavy lobbying both by Nederlander and then by council members themselves. Council president John Ferraro, friends with the Nederlanders and their attorney, Neil Papiano, pushed hard for the five-year contract extension.