Judge backs eviction of artist, family from Main Street home of 25 years

An artist and his family were ordered Tuesday to clear out of a Downtown condominium and pay a $102,000 judgment to owners of the Madison Hotel.

A judge ordered the eviction of Christopher Reyes from a second-floor Main Street condo where the artist has lived and worked for 25 years.

General Sessions Judge Lonnie Thompson sided with the Madison’s lawyer, who argued that Reyes and his mother, Vernice Kuglin, presented no evidence of an ownership interest in the building at 1 South Main.

Reyes and Kuglin’s lawyer argued that his clients had a right to possession of the condominium dating back to a 1993 agreement with developer Henry Turley Jr.

It was unclear whether Reyes, his partner, Sarah Fleming, and their two small children would have to immediately vacate the apartment. The judge said there was a 10-day appeal period.

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Reyes and Kuglin’s lawyer, Newton Anderson, said his clients would consider their options and decide how to proceed.

Anderson and Reyes said outside Thompson’s courtroom that they were disappointed in the result of a two-day bench trial.

Reyes is a visual artist who has painted Downtown murals. He was founder of the now-defunct Live From Memphis website, which showcased work of local artists, musicians and filmmakers in pre-social media times. He’s also a martial arts instructor.

Downtown developer Turley testified last week that he and partner Meredith McCullar divided 1 South Main into condominiums in 1993 and attempted to convey ownership interest in the upstairs residential unit to Kuglin for Reyes’ residence.

“It was undeveloped at the time, and we wanted to animate it and see it developed,” Turley said.

Josh Kahane, the Madison's lawyer, said in a closing argument Tuesday that intent didn't change what boiled down to a simple eviction case. "We are here today because they don't have a right to be there," Kahane said.

Kahane said Reyes was simply a tenant subject to the rules that govern all landlord-tenant relationships.

Turley and McCullar kept the ground-floor commercial condo until 2007, when they sold to a previous Madison Hotel ownership group.

The eviction effort was initiated in July 2017 by Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group and G4, a New York equity partner, which had purchased the Madison and related property on Main a year earlier.

Ownership of the building has been somewhat complicated by the fact that it was part of the Downtown Memphis Commission’s tax abatement program, known as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) lease, from 1986 through the end of 2015. The PILOT froze taxes at pre-development levels.

When property is under a PILOT, the commission takes title and the developer technically leases the property from the commission. The entity leasing the property has a right to buy it for $1 at the end of the PILOT lease.

Turley testified he believed a sublease with Kuglin conveyed his ownership interest in her condominium. The sublease provided that Kuglin could exercise a purchase option at the end of its term.

Kuglin and Reyes said they weren’t given an opportunity to exercise their purchase option before the Madison owners took control of the property.

The eviction proceeding has been holding up a project to renovate and spruce up 1 South Main’s exterior to accommodate a new full-service restaurant and other uses. Hotel owners won a $100,000 grant from the Downtown Memphis Commission for exterior improvements.

The hotel, which is undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation by the Chicago group, closed its restaurant, Eighty3, and cocktail lounge in January in preparation to overhaul hotel food and beverage services.

Michael Kitchen, a hotel representative, declined to comment on the verdict other than to say hotel owners didn’t want to be in court.

The judgment of approximately $102,000 includes Reyes and Kuglin's shares of real estate taxes and building improvements, including some of the work contemplated in the coming renovation, along with attorney fees.

Reyes and Kuglin said they paid their share of condominium expenses until Turley sold his interest in 2007, but new owners never communicated how much they owed, so they didn't pay. Reyes also said the new owners didn’t maintain the building properly, so he was forced to make repairs himself.

Reach Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.