The Kenwood Collection

The Kenwood Collection, formerly Kenwood Town Place, is a shopping center in Kenwood, Ohio, United States, between Interstate 71 and Kenwood Towne Centre.

History

Kenwood Towne Place was a $175 million development project funded by Bear Creek Capital, Neyer Holding Corporation and Dov Limited. Groundbreaking for Kenwood Towne Place happened on April 4, 2007.^[1] Kenwood Towne Place also includes a $33 million public parking garage funded by bonds underwritten by the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority.^[2]

The original anchor tenants were supposed to be The Container Store, Crate & Barrel, Ethan Allen, Kroger, and LA Fitness. In March 2008, Borders Books announced that it would open a store in the complex, stating "It's going to be one of their new prototype stores, which I think they're doing so many across the country. It's a higher-end bookstore experience." ^[3] It was set to be a 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m²) Borders new-concept store.

In March 2008, UBS Financial Services Inc. signed a deal to lease 32,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of the office space on the top floor.^[4]

Kroger opened a Fresh Fare store on October 26, 2008.^[5]

The Container Store opened on November 8, 2008 ^[6][7]

Crate & Barrel opened on November 20, 2008 ^[8]

On April 15, 2009, Mitchell's Salon & Day Spa opened.^[9]

Financial trouble

At the end of December 2008 and the start of January 2009, several contractors filed almost $5 million in liens against Bear Creek Capital's Kenwood Towne Place.^[10]

In late January 2009, problems with the development project began to surface, as more than two dozen liens were filed that had a combined total value of $17 million over a two-week period.^[11] While the liens were being placed, the complex was partially under construction and partially occupied by several stores, leaving them in a state of limbo.

The lenders stopped making disbursements on all parts of the project until all of the liens had been cleared up; in February 2009, there were over 80 outstanding liens.^[12]

On February 20, 2009, it was reported that the first subcontractor filed a lawsuit for $373,000 against Kenwood Towne Place LLC and Bear Creek Construction LLC. The lawsuit includes claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment.^[13]

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Bortz proposed and supported a bailout of $1.8 million to assist some of the small businesses that are stuck in the current financial problems of the developer.

Bank of America filed a foreclosure lawsuit in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court against Bear Creek Capital and the developers of Kenwood Towne Place in May 2009. Bank of America was seeking repayment of $81.3 million in loans and a sheriff's sale of the location.^[14] LA Fitness became the first tenant to sue the developers for $600,000 in unpaid construction costs.^[15]

Kenwood Towne Place was placed into receivership on June 9, 2009. The receiver was a developer out of Cleveland^[16]

Criminal investigation

One of the subcontractors of the development project, Kraft Electrical Contracting, reported that he had spoken with both the FBI and Hamilton County Sheriff.^[17]

The FBI has taken over the Criminal Investigation was first opened by the Hamilton County Sheriff Department. The FBI has started to question people who worked on the project.^[18]

Civil litigation

The judge in the foreclosure action recused himself after speaking with Ohio Supreme Court; he had found that he held stock in one of the creditors, Fifth Third Bank. Judge Steven Martin was replaced by Judge Beth Myers.^[19]

The case, which has become one of the largest cases in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, got even more complicated. On October 2, 2009 motions were filed which alleged "large-scale fraud" by Bear Creek Capital. The same motion also alleged that Bear Creek Capital and Bank of America had engaged in improper relationships.^[20] Judge Beth Myers denied a motion of receiver Hank Menniinger requesting to resign after he had been unable to secure loans to address health and safety issues. Judge Myers ordered that Bank of America fund $263,000 in repairs.^[21] However, another hearing was held on December 21, 2009. Judge Myers allowed Attorney Hank Menninger to step down as receiver for the project, and appointed Frank Hertge, who was nominated by Bank of America.^[22] Bank of America has dropped its challenge of the receivership of Kenwood Towne Center attorney Hank Menninger. Hamilton County Judge Beth Myers ordered that the receiver be paid 80% of money due for the daily management of operating the buildings.^[23]

Gregory Scheper, Bear Creek's director of acquisition, filed a lawsuit against Bear Creek for $1.8 million. The cause for actions in the suit are racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud.^[24]

News was broken that the mediation that was under way in October 2010 failed, and the matter is moving forward to trial in February 2011. This case is set to be the largest and longest trial in the history of Hamilton County, Ohio.^[25]

Recent problems

After Bear Creek Capital ran out of money, work stopped on finishing the project while the remaining stores struggled to stay open.

In March 2009 Sycamore Township Fire Chief William Jetter threatened to revoke the site's occupancy certificate if a list of violations were not fixed, including problems with the sprinkler and fire alarm system not working.^[26]

Hamilton County Building Commissioner Tonia Edwards issued an order, which highlighted eight items that needed to be fixed in order for the temporary occupancy certificate to remain in effect.^[27]

Vicki Lang, Manager of public relation for Crate and Barrel Stated: "We are collaborating with our fellow Kenwood Towne Place retailers to work through this challenging situation. We want to assure Crate and Barrel customers that we remain committed to serving them at this location. We invite shoppers to come and see for themselves – Crate & Barrel is alive and well at Kenwood Towne Place!" ^[28]

Kroger closed their store in Kenwood Towne Place on May 30, 2010. Kroger Executive states this is the first time that they have had to close a new store.^[29][30]

Adding to the ongoing trouble for this development is the fact that the Current Fire Chief has declared that without work, the site is becoming a bigger fire hazard every day. The Fire Chief has stated that the building and other items on the site which could cause problems for the public.^[31]

Stores (as of April 2013)

• Container Store
• Crate & Barrel
• Mitchell's Salon & Day Spa

References