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Property owner finally sells, buyer wants city to remove lien
Gil Pound, The Union-Recorder, Milledgeville, Ga.
5 min read
Sep. 30—After years of inaction, the owner of two dilapidated South Wayne Street properties in downtown Milledgeville has finally made a move.
All-Star Properties & Investments, an LLC registered to a Larry Simmons with a Conyers address, has done nothing to clean up the buildings at 107 and 115 S. Wayne St. since the roof collapsed Memorial Day 2018. But at the 11th hour, a sale has been agreed to and a contract signed between All-Star and purchaser David Sinclair through his relatively new venture called Baldwin Investment Group (B.I.G).
Known internationally for his work in the realm of demolition, Sinclair and his wife have been living in Milledgeville for over a decade. According to his attorney Matt Roessing, Sinclair's group is looking to stabilize the building's facade, construct a new building and lease out the space for commercial use in the heart of downtown.
Usually such a deal between two private parties would be straightforward, but Sinclair had a request of Milledgeville City Council during Tuesday's meeting.
"I do understand there is a lien placed on the property by the city, and I'm hoping that can be resolved sooner rather than later," he said.
All-Star Properties failed to clean up the rubble from the roof collapse that occurred over five years ago. City government sought to work with the property owner, even offering to loan the money in September 2021 to help pay for the clean-up, but the loan application was never returned.
The city had fencing placed in front of the property to make the site safer for the public. Meanwhile, valuable downtown parking — eight spaces worth — and a portion of the South Wayne Street sidewalk were covered up for years.
Due to All-Star Properties' pattern of sitting by and doing nothing, the city took the matter to Municipal Court in June and, following a mandatory 60-day waiting period, was granted authority by Judge J. David McRee to clean up the property because it was ruled a public nuisance. Judge McRee further ordered that any costs incurred by the city pertaining to demolition work, fencing and legal fees could be placed as a lien against the property. Neither Mr. Simmons nor any representative from his company showed up for the June 7 court preceding.
After the 60 days, the city put out a request for bid proposals to find a contractor to handle the demo work. The local government entity has also gone ahead and placed a lien totaling $14,000 on the property. City Manager Hank Griffeth told The Union-Recorder that figure represents the cost of fencing and legal fees associated with bringing the matter before court.
Now, Baldwin Investment Group's legal representation is saying the lien is blocking the sale.
"Baldwin Investment Group is not willing to assume the cost of the lien," Roessing told the newspaper Wednesday. "It's not their fault that the city is in this position. We're certainly sympathetic to the city and understand why they want to get paid back, but our view is that the city could have taken care of this years ago. If they're going to go after anyone, they need to go after the seller individually and not use this to hold up the deal from happening."
Roessing said B.I.G. has been interested in the property for some time, but like the city has had trouble getting All-Star and Mr. Simmons to come to the table. That changed a few weeks ago as the purchase contract was signed Sept. 7. Financial terms of the sale were not shared.
"The hope was that this purchase would go through before the city had to place any liens on the property," said Roessing.
But the city did.
Griffeth said that council discussed the matter in executive session Tuesday night. Government bodies by law are allowed to do such for real estate, personnel and legal matters.
The city responded to Baldwin Investment Group's request to waive the lien Thursday, and it was not good news for the purchaser.
A portion of an email from city attorney Jimmy Jordan to Roessing reads: "While Mayor and Council are very appreciative of Mr. Sinclair's interest in rehabbing downtown properties, they believe they have a responsibility to recover public funds expended as a result of the failure of a property owner to maintain his/her/its property in a safe and inhabitable condition. As you are aware, the City has tried multiple times to work with the owner of the Property to address the condition of the Property, including multiple requests that the owner of the Property reimburse the City for the expense of securing the Property. The owner has failed and/or refused to work with the City, forcing the City to pursue a nuisance abatement action in Court, resulting in additional expense to the City."
Jordan's email goes on to say that the city will move forward with awarding a contract for clearing the debris and securing the structure.
"Assuming no sale is consummated by your Client or any other potential buyer prior to this work being started, once the work is completed, the City will then initiate an action to foreclose on its lien(s) and the Property will be available for interested parties to bid for the purchase of the Property," Jordan said in his correspondence.
After the property is cleared, the city hopes to recoup expended funds through a future foreclosure sale.
Not all city council members believe the city should hold on to its lien.
"To me, it doesn't make sense to throw good money after bad," said Alderman Walter Reynolds, whose district is where the property in question lies. "If this were any property in the world, anywhere, I would say let the sale go through and waive the lien. The new owner clearly has experience in demolition and historic restoration and stabilization."
