Photo by Eric Ayres The McLure House in downtown Wheeling was condemned in 2024 for various code violations. A fine of $1 million may be imposed by the municipal court against the owner, FA Management Corp Inc., unless an effort is made to sell the property in the coming months.

WHEELING – The owner of the historic McLure House in downtown Wheeling was found guilty of several building code violations this week in Municipal Court this week and faces a fine of $1 million if no good-faith effort is shown to sell the hotel property in the next few months.

Fran Garey of FA Management Corp Inc., owner of the McLure House – also known as the McLure Hotel and Conference Center at 1200 Market St., appeared before Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Miller this week for a hearing on the building code violations that led to the hotel’s condemnation order in November of 2024.

Garey was represented by attorney Drew Holbrook and personal attorney David Delk. The city was represented by City Solicitor Rose Humway-Warmuth, who was accompanied by Assistant City Solicitor Howard Klatt and Wheeling Building and Planning Director Brenda J. Delbert.

Following a lengthy court hearing, the court found the defendant guilty of code violations and offered parties the opportunity to discuss terms of resolution by way of an agreement regarding the fine amount.

Judge Miller stressed that he was only focusing on alleged code violations observed at the property on or before the date that the complaint was filed, prompting the court action regarding the code violations that led to the condemnation of the building.

Officials from the city of Wheeling – including code official Chet Oldfield from the city’s Building and Planning Department and chief inspector Deric Jamison of the Wheeling Fire Department – provided a myriad of information regarding code violations observed during multiple inspections at the hotel. Both Oldfield and Jamison were called to the witness stand to testify about various violations that lingered at the property.

Issues observed during inspections of the property included fire hazards, out-of-date fire extinguishers, missing smoke detectors, electrical issues, sprinkler systems that were shut off at times or deemed ineffective because of missing ceiling tiles, septic system issues, mold, unsecured doors, roof leaks and drainage problems, hot water issues and heating issues, mechanical problems and other observations that led to the condemnation of both the hotel and the adjacent apartment building under the same ownership.

Officials indicated that random individuals were simply wandering into the hotel through unsecured doors and staying there, unbeknownst to the hotel staff when it was still in operation.

“At various times, we would go down there, and there would be people in there that the hotel staff had no idea were even in there because they were coming through unlocked doors from the garage side and just getting into the rooms that didn’t have locks on them or were missing locks … and staying,” Oldfield noted. “The hotel staff had no idea that people were in there.”

The building was previously condemned, but city leaders lifted the condemnation after heat was restored to the hotel, and it appeared that action was being initiated to address violations. However, many of the same violations and some additional violations were noted soon afterward on subsequent inspections, which eventually led to the condemnation order in November 2024.

Since then, the McLure Hotel has been deemed “dangerous and unsafe,” with posted orders from the city Building Inspection Department to “keep out” on the main entrances to the facility.

During this week’s hearing, the judge noted that the complaint outlines 13 code violations, but he found some of them to be “duplicitous,” based on the testimony of Oldfield and Jamison.

“I am finding the defendant guilty on nine counts of building code violations,” Miller ruled. “I believe that each day that the violation exists constitutes a new violation. Five hundred and twenty two days had lapsed since the date that the complaint was filed. I have the authority to fine the defendant up to $500 per day, per violation. If you do the math, which I have, the total maximum fine that I believe that I am authorized to impose under law is $2.349 million.”

In light of the judge’s ruling that the owner was found guilty of the code violations and in light of the maximum penalty allowed by law for these violations, Miller permitted parties to discuss a potential resolution before he imposed a fine.

The city recommended a fine of $1 million with a stipulation that the property be sold as soon as possible. The city has been patient and attempted to work with the owner to get the problems remedied, but nothing has happened to move things forward since 2024, according to the city solicitor.

“It is a huge building in the downtown district of the city of Wheeling, and it’s affecting the city’s health, safety and welfare for far too long,” Humway-Warmuth said. “It’s clearly a missing link of our structure as a Class 2 city. The city of Wheeling is a Class 2 city in the state of West Virginia, and we are the only one without a hotel in the downtown area.”

Humway-Warmuth said there have been two prospective buyers for the McLure property over the past year and a half, but the defendant basically “ghosted” the last interested party that insisted that they had financing in line and a plan to revitalize the hotel.

“It’s now time to come to a conclusion,” she said. “The city will also agree – because it is the city’s desire to have a hotel back in our downtown area – a $1 million fine. We will accept $250,000 – only one quarter of that – and require that the property be sold, deed in hand, within a 90 day period of time, or if there is an extremely good-faith effort, within a short period thereafter.”

The defense agreed to the terms. During opening statements, Holbrook noted that attempts had been made to sell the property, but such a transaction involves a huge undertaking. In fact a lender was on hand during this week’s hearing who Holbrook said is involved in a potential sale of the property.

“This is a multimillion-dollar transfer, and these things take time,” he said. “As to previous potential buyers, my client felt that their plan wasn’t up to snuff. They did not have the capital to make the mitigations.”

Garey said a previous potential buyer attempted to change the contract in a way that would prevent her from showing the property to anyone else.

Humway-Warmuth said the city would work with defense counsel on a memorandum of understanding in regard to the agreement so the property can be marketed and “hopefully will be sold.” The city solicitor also said the city expected to be able to access the property to perform updated inspections that will allow potential buyers exactly what the city will expect to be updated to lift the condemnation order.

The judge noted to Garey that by agreeing to these terms, she would be waiving the right to appeal the verdict in regard to finding of guilt on the nine code violations.

“What I’m going to do is impose a fine of $1 million at this time, but I’m going to suspend payment of the fine until Aug. 5, which is the first building code docket after the expiration of the three-month period that the parties have agreed to,” Miller ruled. “I suggest we reconvene in regular municipal court on Aug. 5 to see where we are. If the property has been sold, then clearly the fine will be reduced to $250,000. If it hasn’t been sold but the defendant wants to make an argument that they have made a good faith effort to do so, then I will entertain and argument to lower the fine to something less than $1 million, even if it actually hasn’t been sold.”

Parties agreed that if and when the property is sold, the defendant will have funds available to pay the fine – whatever that may end up being – out of the proceeds from the sale.

Garey was the previous owner and operator of the McLure Hotel from April 2007 to the summer of 2021, when Roxby Development acquired the property at an auction with a bid of $6,245,000. Roxby had the exterior facade of the building painted from tan to white and initiated several other interior renovations before financial issues eventually led to the company’s collapse with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and subsequent conviction of the head of the company on federal wire fraud and tax fraud charges.

Former Roxby head Jeffrey James Morris, 39, was later sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4,901,413 in restitution to investors and $526,476 in taxes, penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.

In 2023, Garey saw the McLure property transferred back to FA Management Corp Inc. and FG Management LLC following a public foreclosure auction. The previous owner and head of the Missouri-based property management companies provided the only bid for the McLure Hotel and related properties, which were secured via a credit bid of $5,668,000 during the trustee’s sale – the amount that the company claimed that Roxby still owed them.

At that time, Garey stated that she was focused on resolving problems at the hotel and was interested in financing it to the right buyer, noting that she intended to conduct a more thorough vetting of the next potential buyer in light of the issues that unfolded with Roxby.