ATLANTA — The music artist and entertainment executive Usher is suing a group of investors who have been trying to open a new restaurant and lounge in Atlanta.

Usher Raymond IV lent $1.7 million to the investor group toward the purchase of property for the planned Homage ATL, his lawyers said in a lawsuit filed recently in Atlanta.

In late 2024, three men approached Usher with their plan to open the restaurant and lounge, which involved the purchase of a commercial property in the city’s Buckhead neighborhood, the lawsuit states. Usher declined to become an investor in Homage ATL, but he agreed to loan the group $1.7 million toward purchasing the property.

The money had been sent to the trust account of Atlanta lawyer Alcide Honoré, who represented some of the investors and is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. After the deal never materialized, Usher requested that his money be returned. He was repaid $1 million in August, but communication then broke down and he has been unable to collect the remaining $700,000, the lawsuit states.

Honoré on Wednesday referred questions to his attorney, Clifford Hardwick IV.

“I have no substantive comment regarding a matter that is in litigation,” Hardwick said in an email to The Associated Press. “However, I am extremely confident that Mr. Honoré will be vindicated as to any civil liability in this case.”