SoulCycle, the indoor cycling gym where a 45-minute class costs $40 a session, is accused of failing to pay rent on an “abandoned” location in Downtown L.A.
Onni Group, which owns 888 South Olive Street, sued SoulCycle last month, claiming the fitness studio owes $1.2 million in back rent, according to a complaint filed with L.A. Superior Court.
“After March 2020, defendants stopped making payments to Onni that were due and payable under the lease and have been in default of their contractual obligations,” Onni said in its complaint. SoulCycle, which is owned by high-end gym Equinox, has not responded to the suit.
Vancouver-based Onni claims that SoulCycle exited its 4,200-square-foot location in March 2020, despite having a lease through October 2031. SoulCycle also had agreed to pay $1,300 a week to use a portion of an outdoor deck at the building from August through October 2020, to host outdoor classes.
Since then, Onni has never waived nor forgiven SoulCycle’s default, the landlord alleges.
Many commercial landlords went after tenants for back rent in 2020 and 2021, when the City of L.A.’s eviction moratorium on commercial property was still in effect, though these suits are not unusual.
SoulCycle signed its 15-year lease in 2016, and agreed to pay $250,620 in annual base rent for the first five years, according to documents filed with the suit.
SoulCycle agreed to pay $288,213 a year for the following five years and $331,445 the final five years.
The gym does not list its Downtown L.A. location on its website — only locations in Brentwood, Manhattan Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
Onni Group’s 888 South Olive is a 35-story tower in Downtown L.A.’s South Park neighborhood. The company operates the building as an extended-stay apartment building under the Level Hotels & Furnished Suites brand.