Listen to the interview:
Read the transcript:
This is Midshore Midday. I’m Jim Brady.
Recently, a public notice went up advertising an auction for a building on Race Street in Cambridge. Ever since questions, opinions, and gossip have been swirling about Alpha Genesis Community Development Corporation. It’s the most prominent minority operated nonprofit in Dorchester County.
People on Facebook have alleged that Alpha Genesis has failed to pay rent to the building’s owner. That $19 million in grants have been lost, and other nonprofits have been squeezed out of the funding.
We’re putting the brakes on all the conjecture today. We’ve invited Adrian Holmes, the founder and head of Alpha Genesis, to spell out what is and what is not happening with the downtown location and with Alpha Genesis itself. Thanks for coming in, Adrian.
Adrian Holmes:
Thank you so much for having me.
WHCP:
So let’s start with some basics. First of all, briefly, what exactly is Alpha Genesis, its mission and some of the projects you’ve endeavored to do?
Adrian Holmes:
So I know I’ve been here before talking about Alpha Genesis, CDC Alpha Genesis Community Development Corporation. It is a nonprofit organization that was actually started in Philadelphia with my father, Reverend John Green. And on his passing I kind of picked up the baton and brought it to Cambridge and his honor. And so we use art and culture. When you think about Alpha Genesis, you think about the very first beginning and we meet our creator who is creating, it’s all about the creative art, the creative essence of who we are. That’s where we connect best. And on that carrier wave we have done public art, public conversation, and our goal is to promote economic equity.
WHCP:
Now about the buildings on Race Street, there seems to be a lot of assumptions about who owns what does Alpha Genesis own or rent? Let’s start with that.
Adrian Holmes:
So Alpha Genesis owns 428 to 432 Race Street. We are on the, if you’re facing the Harriet Tubman Museum, we would be the buildings to the right of the museum to Cannery Way. The rear of the building is actually the viewing area for the Harriet Tubman Take My Hand mural.
WHCP:
The Canvasback building. Where does that figure in?
Adrian Holmes:
That’s the property to the left. If you’re standing in front of the Harriet Tubman Museum, it’s to the left
of the Harriet Tubman Museum.
WHCP:
What’;s the arrangement with that?
Adrian Holmes:
That one, we are tenants in that property now. Our intent has always been to acquire that property rehabilitate it and add it to when you’re in the back part of the building – all of those buildings really interact as one open space, one open creative kind of place making space where the Harriet Tubman mural is. And so our intent is to beautify that entire area, those properties that faced the Harriet Tubman mural.
WHCP:
What have you done with the building in the last three years?
Adrian Holmes:
With which Building?
WHCP:
Well, let’s start with Canvasback.
Adrian Holmes:
So Canvasback was being used for the Art Bar 2.0 at one point there was, Jermaine had the cafe underground upfront, but if you recall, we took over that building in 2021 and the previous tenants left because there was no heat or no air in that building. So we have been being very creative and making these buildings work with antiquated electric, plumbing, heat, and cooling.
WHCP:
Now that’s the Canvasback building?
Adrian Holmes:
Yes. It’s really technically, because it’s listed on a historic register, as the historic F. W. Woolworth building.
WHCP:
The Woolworth building. So same building? Yeah, just some people call it Woolworth and some people call it Canvasback. Yeah. Why is the auction taking place?
Adrian Holmes:
So the auction on that building is really the election of Queenstown Bank who holds the mortgage on that building.
We, Alpha Genesis CDC have been paying the mortgage and we pay seller credit to the seller who owns the property. We pay the taxes and the insurance. So the bank, Queenstown Bank has elected what is called a technical default foreclosure. A technical default foreclosure means that the bank can reacquire the property if the present loan holders financial situation has changed. And in this case, with the passing of the owner’s husband, her financial situation has changed. And so the bank has elected to foreclose on that technicality. There is no fiduciary irresponsibility there. There was some payments that needed to be caught up. The bank brought it to our attention and we caught them up. We paid back taxes this year. We spent probably close to $50,000 cash just catching up everything that the bank said needed to be caught up and their attorney’s fees, and they still elected this technical default foreclosure. Please look it up on Google. It’s really very simple and it is a tactic that financial institutions use to gain control of a property so that they can probably change a new owner.
WHCP:
You’re saying it had nothing to do with your performance as far as meeting payments?
Adrian Holmes:
No, it did not. My last payment was made on October 28th,
WHCP:
But there were times before that when it was behind some ?
Adrian Holmes:
One payment was in question because when Alpha Genesis took over, it was at a certain time and we were raising money for the statue, and I felt that my area of responsibility started on a certain date. But the bank said this was also missing when the bank brought it to our attention that this is one payment that is in question. We paid it with the attorney’s fees.
WHCP:
Now you say the reason was the husband died, but that was three years ago. Why would they be moving on it now?
Adrian Holmes:
That’s a question you have to ask the bank and feel free to call the bank. And when you call the bank, they will refer you to their attorney. And this is the part that is egregious for me, Jim, is that when you call the bank and they refer you to their attorney, their attorney is in Baltimore with the address on Reisterstown Road, who has no clue, nor does he care about any of the history of this building, the climate or culture of our community. He is transactional. All he wants to do is, I mean, this is what his job is and I get it. So he’s transactional and his job is to sell the property. He doesn’t care about Miriam the owner, us Alpha Genesis or any of that.
WHCP:
Well, I did talk to Marion this morning to prepare for this interview, and she said that Jermaine Anderson – was he still executive director of Alpha Genesis?
Adrian Holmes:
He’s acting executive director, yes.
WHCP:
So he apparently made a contract with her a while back that was due with extensions and all that finally in May to buy the building. And that May came and went, and there was no payment, no conclusion of it. So they made a separate deal to pay so that she would have some money to live on a hundred thousand that would be going to her and some other money going toward the purchase that that would be concluded by September, which she said he agreed to. But in September that didn’t happen.
Adrian Holmes:
So people don’t understand the financial burden of all of this, right? Because it’s easy to sit around for her to say, we are already paying you monthly. And then we thought we really could get together this lump sum because I get it, she’s older and she wants to just move on. I get that. But also the pressure on us, the money… I didn’t even show you all of the other things that we’re working on that causes us management and money. So this is a lot. What we’re putting out for this building alone is very close to $8,000 a month just in carrying costs every month in a building that is deteriorating for, which has had no maintenance since we’ve had it. And since the other tenants were there, still no maintenance. So we’ve been footing a huge financial responsibility for this building, and we’re still working to get the lump sum that she needs so that she can walk away. We were not able to get it done this summer. So what it is going to take, Jim, is a public private partnership because there’s just not enough money. So no money has been lost. Nobody took $19 million. The money is still sitting with the state in an account for our Project.
WHCP:
Now, how do you qualify to do your building if you don’t own it?
Adrian Holmes:
When we did the application, the owner wrote a letter of site control. And so that was included in the
application that the owner supports this letter. Like we wrote a grant application to fix the roof. And so
if you don’t own it, you just get control. You get a easement letter or a site control from the owner
saying, I am in agreement with this and that this award goes forward.
WHCP:
Oh, so you included those in the application?
Adrian Holmes:
Yes, always. And that’s the thing, when people don’t write grants, they should not be online saying
things when you don’t know how grants are written, how they’re administrated, how they’re reported
on. And that’s the part that’s frustrating, is that we’re making these assumptions out of our ignorance.
And I think people who facilitate those conversations have the obligation to educate their audience.
WHCP:
Well, that’s what we’re here for. We’ll be following this case. Next hearing is happening in court this Thursday.
For Mid-Shore Midday, I’m Jim Brady.
