Garfield Suites Hotel in Cincinnati with Foreclosure Proceedings.

The Garfield Suites Hotel located in Cincinnati, Ohio is a property with 16 floors and 153 rooms. For a couple of years, the hotel has ceased its services due to the market crisis, price fluctuations, and poor management, its owner is now, for the second time, involved in foreclosure proceedings on this property.

In 2015, Michael Collier, the current owner, bought the hotel to rehabilitate it and put it back into normal operation. After some time of hard work, large sums of money invested in repairs, and setbacks that arose, the construction stopped, causing him to be unable to meet his mortgage loan obligations on time, and he lost the property.

In addition to this, during the time when repairs and other activities were being carried out within the building to make it operational, Collier received a lawsuit from the city of Cincinnati for nuisances, a lawsuit that began in 2020 but is currently pending.

By January 2022, Collier repurchased the property using a mortgage loan from the agency UC Funds for a value of $23.4 million. Recently, for again failing to meet mortgage payments and interest on late payments, he received another lawsuit and a breach of contract claim, which are causing him to face foreclosure once more.

His current lender, according to County Court documents, states in the lawsuit that the owner has caused significant damages by not making timely mortgage payments. Additionally, the agency claims that its assets are being harmed because the owner did not complete the renovations on time and did not pay the contractors, causing the building to deteriorate further.

The current foreclosure lawsuit has been combined with the nuisance case filed by the city. This situation has arisen to expedite the resolution of these issues. On one hand, the city aims to achieve the redevelopment of the property, a quick resolution of code violations on the property, and facilitate the development of repairs to convert the hotel into affordable housing units, while the lender seeks immediate payment of all damages caused by the owner.

However, not only the city of Cincinnati and his current lender are the only creditors of Michael Collier, two contractors also have mechanic’s liens on the building for labor and materials used to improve the property. In addition to this, the owner owes more than half a million dollars in county property taxes.

Although this is just one case of the current real estate market situation in Cincinnati, several buildings and properties in the downtown area have recently faced foreclosure proceedings due to rising interest rates, massive office vacancies, and high construction material costs.

Available Foreclosures:

Cincinnati: 5 homes available.

By Elias DaSilva | October 3, 2024.