MOUNT CARMEL - Nearly three dozen blighted properties once owned by a notoriously negligent landlord have been renovated after a failed business partnership resulted in the turnover of properties to a new company.
Apartments & Acquisitions, co-owned by George Atiyeh and Harry Z. Brill, has turned over 34 properties to Brody Properties LP, of Allentown.
Brody Properties, formed March 3, is a general partner of HZB LLC. Neither is owned by Atiyeh, said Mount Carmel code enforcement officer Robin Williams.
Williams has been working with the owners of Brody Properties to bring Atiyeh's former properties up to code. He asked the owners to spend money on repairing the houses in exchange for dropping code violation tickets. The arrangement has been working so far.
"We made a lot of headway," he said.
The majority of the 28 Mount Carmel properties transferred to Brody Properties are in good repair and rented. Four condemned properties owned by Brody Properties are being worked on, said Williams. He expected to visit them in the coming days to potentially lift the condemnation orders.
The remaining six Apartments & Acquisitions properties turned over to Brody Properties are in Mount Carmel Township.
Only nine properties remain deeded to Apartments & Acquisitions in Mount Carmel Borough. Four are fire-damaged, one is condemned and two are dilapidated, said Williams. He was unsure of what would become of these properties, but he said based on his experience so far with Brody Properties, he hoped the new company would acquire them.
But Atiyeh said he will continue to own the fire-damaged homes and was looking forward to bringing them up to code.
"I would love to fix those," he said Thursday. "Those are the most challenging ones that I own."
Partnership breakdown
The division of property stems from a breakdown of the partnership between him and Brill, Atiyeh said. He said the transfer of properties is complete, and that Brill acquired most of the properties in Mount Carmel Borough and some in Schuylkill and Lackawanna counties. Atiyeh said he will retain the others he owns in the region, including those in Shamokin and Coal Township.
Atiyeh said the "feud" with Brill was a reason so many properties remained blighted.
"A feud between my partner and I has been resolved," he said. "We each know which properties we have and we're both moving in the right direction."
In September 2013, Atiyeh petitioned for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for Apartments & Acquisitons and Jamilie LLC, a company also co-owned by Atiyeh and Brill that was merged with Apartments & Acquisitions. Less than 10 days later, Brill objected, claiming as co-owner of the company he had not given permission for the move.
The objection ultimately led a judge to dismiss the bankruptcy filings.
Court documents show another business partnership involving Atiyeh is falling apart.
Jerry Rehrer, of Point Pleasant, N.J., filed a lawsuit Dec. 26 against Brill and Atiyeh. He said he purchased a 50 percent stake in Northeast Apartments LLC, co-owned by Atiyeh and Brill, through a verbal agreement and was made a 50 percent stakeholder in House Flex LLC and Garage Flex LLC but has yet to see any income from rent.
He also alleges Atiyeh failed to make any repairs to the properties with the rent income, allowing the properties to fall into disrepair and tax delinquency.
Atiyeh in the past has denied contributing to blight issues in the area and cited overzealous code officers has hampering his effort to bring investment money to the area.
"A lot of these code guys become like pit bulls and they try to ruin the reputation of any investors," he said again Thursday. He added he was trying to work out a payment plan for his delinquent taxes.
Requests for comment by attorneys for Brill and Rehrer received no response.