While Jeff Kern pays off debts related to the demolition of a dilapidated hotel on his now-vacant property in Midland, he runs into legal trouble in another state and also struggles with his own health issues.
WBNS-TV, a CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, reported on August 1 that a judge there ordered Kern’s arrest after he failed to appear for a hearing that day. The judge set bail at $2.5 million.
The station also reported that Kern’s lawyers in Columbus told the judge they received an email saying Kern had been hospitalized in his Los Angeles home for unspecified reasons.
The scheduled compliance hearing was for the Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort in Columbus, which Kern purchased in 2017 after it was shut down for building code violations in 2016. Kern was charged with contempt of court in June for failing to bring the property up to building code and was fined $2,000 a day until it came into compliance with building codes.
Meanwhile, in District Court at the Midland County Courthouse on Thursday, attorney Adam Flory represented Kern, who was not present, at a hearing before Judge Stephen Carras that lasted about 20 minutes and involved two demolition contractors who hold liens on Kern’s property at 1500 W. Wackerly.
Flory told the Daily News that Kern would like to redevelop the 13,000-square-foot Wackerly property once the liens are cleared.
The property was purchased by Kern in December 2014, several years after the hotel discontinued its Holiday Inn franchise. The building was repossessed by the City of Midland in 2018 and eventually demolished in 2021.
Exactly one year ago, the property was put up for auction by the Midland County Sheriff’s Office, but no bids were received and it remained in Kern’s possession until he paid off his debt to Demolition Contractors Inc. in Grand Rapids.
