Gabriel entered into negotiations with Prince to buy Paisley Park studios but after months of negotiations a deal between the two mavericks could not be reached, so Gabriel purchased Flyte Time Studios from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for $2.7 million instead. The group would proceed to sell the studio to a 2nd investment group for $7 million just 5 hours later.  After a complete renovation of the landmark facility Gabriel divested his shares in the studio for a cool $3 million.

 

Widely considered one of the top 10 recording facilities in music history, Flyte Tyme studios were well known for hits by Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Usher, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and New Edition. LaSalle sold the Harrison Console in Studio B and replaced it with a custom SSL 6056 E/G+ provided by IBM. 

 

Gabriel had worked on several projects produced by Jam & Lewis from 1990-1998 so he knew the fedora donned mavericks would likely have seller's remorse after learning he in fact now owned the building so Gabriel managed to keep the deal a secret for nearly a year refusing interview requests from CNN, BET and the local media. Billboard Magazine finally broke the story in May of 2005. 

 

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