Spokane7
65°
August 13, 2011 in City
Vestal: Ridpath figure likes to follow his own rules
It’s a beautiful bike.
The 1947 Indian Motorcycle sits – or possibly sat – in the fancy downtown condo owned by developer Greg Jeffreys, the man at the center of the mess at the Ridpath Hotel. It’s a spectacular piece of gleaming nostalgia, and Jeffreys displayed it like a work of art. A $37,000 piece of art.
Which sounds like a lot of money, until you realize how much Jeffreys owes to other people.
Jeffreys lost the bike two weeks ago when a judge ordered it seized and turned over to a bank to which Jeffreys has defaulted on some $1.8 million in debts. Not long after, the judge ordered a half-million-dollar piece of medical equipment turned over, as well. Jeffreys has also lost a $1.3 million judgment in another case, and is fighting allegations that he improperly “converted” a government payment owed to his lender and distributed it to others, including friends and family. And now he has declared that he will no longer work on fixing code violations at the Ridpath, until the city revokes the fees it has assessed him for failing to fix code violations.
It has been a difficult time for Jeffreys, and because he owns key parcels of the hotel, including control of water, electricity and other infrastructure – and because he seems unlikely to cooperate with the other owners – his growing problems infect the future of the whole place.
The speculative game now is what will the Ridpath block look like once the dominos have fallen: A condemned building? An elaborate resort? A new parking lot? A smoldering ruin? Something else?
For now, the city is trying simply to eliminate health and safety problems at the place. Still. The owners, and Jeffreys in particular, are pushing back with varying degrees of umbrage. They see the city as piling on – adding to the whole host of problems already weighing the place down. But the hotel, which closed three years ago this month, is a fire trap and a transient hot spot. It’s ugly and smelly – literally smelly. The divided and contentious ownership creates enormous problems, but the problems are not of the city’s making.
Building and fire officials have been asking property owners for months to clean up the place, fix broken windows, secure the entrances, and, most importantly, make sure there are fire and safety systems. Some steps have been taken, but not nearly enough, officials say. Chief among the concerns is fire safety – and you can see why, given that the property strikes a lot of people as the “before” half of an arson story.
The city has laid out the rules clearly, and waited months for responses. I have heard both building and fire officials listen patiently to outraged complaints from some of the owners or their representatives, protesting that they still cannot understand what is required of them and professing to be so confused by it all that they can’t meet the requirements.
Four months after the city’s first notices went out to property owners, these complaints are hard to credit.
“We really try to give people the opportunity to explain their circumstances and work with them on compliance time if we can,” said city Fire Marshal Lisa Jones. “But we’re already way past that point here.”
The city’s not done. Jones will be sending out notices to property owners soon giving them final deadlines to get fire alarm and suppression systems in working order, or face more civil penalties. At $513 per infraction, and with several potential infractions in each separate piece of property, that bill could add up.
Those penalties – if they are assessed – will come on top of the $1,500-per-parcel fees already assessed by the building department, which declared the Ridpath and neighboring buildings “substandard,” with the exception of one parcel. Because Jeffreys owns a lot of parcels, his fines added up to much more than everyone else’s – a total of $24,000 for the top two floors and portions of the neighboring Y building. In an angry letter sent in late July, he informed the city that he will no longer perform the work they’re requiring, until these fees are lifted.
“This is a clear act of ‘Bad Faith’ on the City’s Building Department’s part and we have halted the completion of the fire alarm system, strobes, detectors, etc., until a time the assessed fines/fees are revoked,” Jeffreys wrote in a letter to the city. “I have spent thousands of dollars to date. … I will not spend anymore monies, until a time these assessment fines/fees are revoked and the liens removed.”
In other words, unless the city stops charging him fees him for not following the rules, he’s not going to follow the rules.
It might just be, of course, that he can’t afford to follow the rules. The city is asking the building owners to perform work on the fire safety and sprinkler system that will cost thousands of dollars. All the property owners but Jeffreys appear to be cooperating on a plan being organized by Stephen Antonietti, a Spokane man who is trying to broker some kind of future at the place, but it’s going to take thousands of dollars and, as Antonietti says, “No one has any money.”
And, unlike that fancy bike, no one wants to swoop in and take the Ridpath.
The draw of the unknowable 
SpokyDaBear on August 13 at 7:23 a.m.
Bunch of losers…
Dude should have wore his…….
If had been a ……. on his own ……the …..would have ….. him
wheels on August 13 at 8:01 a.m.
None of the owners have any money or are unwilling to step up to fix this eye sore /saftey issue.Time for the City of Spokane to exercise it’s legal rights,claim then demolish the property.Start over at the bottom and as time and circumstances permit……
Scoutster on August 13 at 8:14 a.m.
Govt should just leave these poor small business people alone and let them continue to develop good paying jobs that gets our country working again.
It’s time to let the private sector step up and show us what they can do without govt intrusion in everything.
Oh. Sorry.
Nevermind.
terryalan on August 13 at 8:18 a.m.
It’s not like the city hasn’t ever done a land grab before. This surely would be for the public benefit….
Squid on August 13 at 10:53 a.m.
Due to our Government helping everyone and fixing things, as well as lawyers, Indian Chiefs are no longer worth $37,000, since it is a luxury that is too valuable to ride, and expensive to maintain and repair. You would be lucky to get $25,000 for it these days. $37,000 is a two years ago value, and it was worth about $50,000 four years ago. That’s if it is restored and in mint condition. If it is an Indian 4, it could be worth the $37,000, and was worth around $90,000 four years ago, in mint condition.
Very similar to your home values. Have you seen comps in your area lately?
How do fines help anyone, especially when there is no income from the investment?
Good news: The lawyers and City will come out ahead though.
SpokyDaBear on August 13 at 11:48 a.m.
The city plans on throwing on the fines to the point where the fines are greater than the price for the property..
Then the city will sell the parcels to Diamond Parking and Viola.. we get more surface parking…
SpokyDaBear on August 13 at 1:46 p.m.
They should sell it to the indians and make it into a down town casino…. The Ridpath is on sacred group..
mcjjensen on August 14 at 8:42 a.m.
Why are we even discussing this person? Where I come from somebody that, “improperly “converted” a government payment owed to his lender and distributed it to others, including friends and family” has broken the law and should be treated as such. This guy is a classic example of someone who thinks they are above the law.
And, his asinine argument that because he has been fined for not complying with city code he will not fix the problems that resulted in the fines to begin with, is akin to a child holding his breath until he is allowed to flush the cat down the toilet.
Mr. Jefferies, do the right thing and admit that you are a hinderance to saving the Ridpath and simply sell your parcels to one of the other owners. At least they might get something done.
Mitch Jensen
mcjjensen on August 14 at 10:36 a.m.
Whoops, sorry about the mis-spelling, Mr. Jeffreys. And, if anyone needed more proof about this man’s questionable scruples, this is where the $1.8 million came from in the above article:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/08/out-of-state-investors-bring-suit-alleging-fraud/
Mitch Jensen
Jfrater on December 23 at 12:48 p.m.
I worked for Greg Jeffrys for about 5 days in the late 80’s. I quit working for him due to his utter disregard for any of his employees.
He ran his crew using a management style of terror. Basically screaming obscenities, calling names and firing people right and left for minor errors.
His job site lacked basic safety equipment and I found myself Unloading lumber on the top of an icy three story apartment building, from a forklift that was crookedly parked and required I reach out over the edge to grab the boards. Meanwhile, of course, he was calling me names for only carrying two or three boards instead of ten.
And he had no regard for labor law. We worked a mandatory 60 hour work week without overtime pay.
As much as my sorry 19 year old butt needed a job, I didn’t need that.
I’m not surprised he is in this mess. He didn’t seem to have regard for rules, nor the ability to treat others with basic human decency. I can’t help but hope it is rough for him.