Debt piles up for former NFL kicker turned landlord

CINCINNATI — Blue Tide Partners, a residential existent property institution partially owned by erstwhile Cincinnati Bengals placekicker Doug Pelfrey, is drowning successful reddish ink aft losing a $39.9 cardinal foreclosure judgement successful Hamilton County Common Pleas Court earlier this month.

The ruling puts much than 500 flat units successful Hamilton County nether duress and makes it harder for Pelfrey to execute the existent property goals helium articulated to the WCPO 9 I-Team successful 2019.

“I’m not successful this to beryllium a landlord,” Pelfrey said astatine the time. “I’m successful this to alteration people's lives.”

Pelfrey said his extremity was to assistance renters beforehand toward self-sufficiency done partnerships he’d worked with since leaving the Bengals successful 1999.

But a bid of setbacks - including the COVID-19 pandemic - made beingness hard for landlords and tenants alike and saddled Pelfrey’s Covington-based institution with mounting ineligible woes.

Pelfrey declined to beryllium interviewed for this communicative but texted a statement.

“We person experienced immoderate short-term disruptions successful currency flow,” Pelfrey wrote. “This has been further aggravated by taking connected immoderate precise challenging improvement projects that entail assemblage engagement and approval. While it is existent that the tribunal has handed down a ruling, we person chosen not to record for bankruptcy to enact a solution which shall beryllium satisfactory to each of the parties.”

Tenants are disquieted astir imaginable changes astatine 759 Ridgeway, a 34-unit Avondale analyzable that mislaid its on-site spot manager successful April arsenic problems piled up.

“We had 1 incidental wherever a radical of young men jumped 1 of my neighbors,” said Kimberly Flowers, a five-year nonmigratory of the Ridgeway property. “We person radical coming successful present disconnected the thoroughfare similar a bat retired of you-know-where. And they were expected to enactment a gross up that would assistance halt that due to the fact that we person kids that play retired here.”

Since April, Alexis Gibson said attraction had deteriorated erstwhile a court-appointed receiver, Prodigy Properties, replaced Blue Tide Partners arsenic the building’s manager.

“Management doesn’t travel to the property," Gibson said. "They don’t marque definite it’s clean. During the summer, erstwhile it was similar 90 degrees, my AC went out. And they were not successful a unreserved to get it fixed astatine each until I told them I person kids present and I would not beryllium paying the rent until it’s fixed.”

In a July 26 study to Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman, Prodigy Properties main Jeff Lane pointed to aboriginal problems up for Blue Tide Partners tenants.

“Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority has informed the receiver that it volition not beryllium capable to renew existing tenants vouchers owed to the foreclosure proceeding and the past-due taxes connected the properties,” Lane wrote. “The corporate past-due existent property taxes are astir $1 million.”

Beyond the unpaid taxes and the $39.9 cardinal foreclosure judgment, Ruehlman approved connected Sept. 13, Blue Tide Partners and its affiliates look astir $5 cardinal successful further payments ordered by section courts successful 2021.

• Hamilton County Judge Melba Marsh ordered a $1.2 cardinal outgo connected Sept. 21 to Boenning & Scattergood Inc. This Columbus-based broker-dealer claims it was ne'er paid for helping Blue Tide Partners put to concern betwixt 2016 and 2019.
• Hamilton County Judge Wende Cross awarded a $552,784 judgement connected July 7 to Cincinnati, which sued Blue Tide Partners implicit unpaid h2o bills and gathering codification citations successful 2020.
• Butler County Judge Noah Powers awarded a $2.55 cardinal judgement connected May 13 to Spade Contracting LLC, which alleged it wasn’t paid astir of what it was owed from a $3.1 cardinal operation declaration it signed with Blue Tide successful 2020.
• Kenton County Judge Patricia Summe approved an agreed judgement connected March 31 requiring Blue Tide Partners to wage $657,625 to Ashley Moser of Union, Kentucky.

The Kenton County ruling came 5 days aft an affiliate of Columbia Pacific Advisors filed its foreclosure suit against Blue Tide Partners Hamilton LLC, seeking the assignment of a receiver to negociate 25 properties that were pledged arsenic collateral for a $26 cardinal owe issued successful 2018.

Pelfrey’s institution has been successful default since January 2019, but a bid of forbearance agreements delayed foreclosure actions done October 2020, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint.

In the March 26 foreclosure suit, a Columbia Pacific affiliate claimed Blue Tide Partners Hamilton LLC owed $39.9 cardinal with involvement accruing astatine astir $18,788 per time since Feb. 21.

Prodigy Properties gave a sobering relationship of spot conditions astatine the 25 buildings caught successful the foreclosure.

“Many of the properties were not adequately insured,” Lane wrote successful his July 26 report. “Many of the mechanicals successful the occupied properties person not been maintained oregon are beyond their utile life, which volition mean a important superior concern is successful the future.”

Ten of the buildings person nary occupants due to the fact that their renovations are unfinished oregon ne'er started. Six buildings person vacancy rates higher than 20%.

Of the 515 units successful each 26 properties, 260 were occupied arsenic of July 26. Lane said helium was reviewing options for the merchantability of each but 2 edifice properties successful the portfolio.

Pelfrey planned to person the Carrousel Inn and Drake Motel to lodging for veterans erstwhile Blue Tide bought the Reading Road properties successful 2018. But helium was incapable to unafraid Sycamore Township zoning approvals for the project. The buildings person deteriorated since.

Related: Health codification violations astatine Carrousel Inn

The Carrousel was successful “absolutely atrocious condition,” said Prodigy’s report. “There is occurrence damage, h2o damage, vandalism, grounds of squatters and a myriad of codification violations … it appears the suspect received a occurrence harm security outgo of astir $100,000 but did not repair the building.”

The Drake Motel was “incomplete disrepair,” the study added. “At takeover by the receiver, galore of the doors were opened, and 1 portion was packed with utilized tires … the receiver has been incapable to unafraid security fixed the information of the spot and the premises.”

The 43-unit Ridgeway spot is 1 of the best-performing complexes successful the Blue Tide Partners portfolio. The three-building analyzable “is astir 90% occupied by marketplace and subsidized renters,” Prodigy reported.

But that won’t support the analyzable from losing tenants similar Di Nelson, who wants a bigger spot to stock with her 4-month-old son, Adrian.

Like Ridgeway tenants Gibson and Flowers, Nelson noticed a diminution successful information and attraction due to the fact that of the foreclosure.

“This is astir apt not the champion country to rise children, that’s for sure,” Nelson said.

Dan Monk astatine WCPO archetypal reported this story.