By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The vacant Empire Theater building at 1521 Vine St. in Over-the-Rhine was supposed to be a key element in redeveloping the street, one of the top priorities of Mayor Charlie Luken. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

The Empire Theater renovation project, touted by city officials as a key step in turning around Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, has collapsed after city taxpayers put $184,172 into the project.

Most disturbing, city officials say, is that no one can find the developer.

LaShawn R. Pettus-Brown, a Taft High School basketball standout who played professionally in Japan until last year, won approval for $220,000 in city loans and grants to fix up the 88-year-old landmark in the heart of Cincinnati's poorest neighborhood.

Tuesday, the city gave up and sent a notice of default to Mr. Pettus-Brown, asking him to repay the $184,172 in city funds.

City officials said they pulled the plug after Mr. Pettus-Brown did not provide evidence that he had come up with $560,000 in state and private financing for the project.

Mr. Pettus-Brown, 26, did provide an Oct. 25, 2002, letter on PNC Bank letterhead confirming that funding - and suggesting that the state of Ohio had also committed funds.

But PNC Bank informed the city Nov. 25 that the letter did not come from its offices. A bank spokeswoman declined to comment, citing customer confidentiality.

As the project unraveled, city officials said they learned two other things that led them to question the viability of the project:

The developer submitted an invoice to the city for music equipment. The city paid the invoice, but the vendor never got paid.

The general contractor "reinvested" some of his share of the work back into the project, a practice that Community Development Director Peg Moertl said is unusual.

The funding proposal was co-sponsored by Mayor Charlie Luken and Vice Mayor Alicia Reece.

"I'm very disappointed this happened. It makes me sick," Mr. Luken said Thursday.

Mr. Luken said he's known there was trouble with the project for at least a month, but that Mr. Pettus-Brown kept assuring officials that he would make the project right.

"My hope against hope was that he was going to make it all better before it became a public issue," Mr. Luken said.

Vine Street was the epicenter of the 2001 riots that followed the police shooting of Timothy Thomas, and Mr. Luken made the revitalization of Vine Street a top priority in his 2002 State of the City Address.

Thursday, the mayor said he remained committed to that goal.

"I am not at all shy about what we were trying to accomplish," he said. "To help a small business, and a minority-owned business, to get started to create an arts venue on Vine Street was the right thing to do."

Last June, City Council voted 6-2 - along party lines - to approve city funding for the project. Republicans Pat DeWine and Chris Monzel voted no. Charterite Jim Tarbell was absent.

Mr. DeWine publicly complained at the time that "no review was conducted by the administration and no detailed business plan has been submitted."

Thursday, Mr. DeWine said I told you so.

"Council members just have to be more careful about how they give up money. It really had no due diligence about it," he said. "When council members vote on their own pet projects, they have an obligation to make sure these are viable, real projects."

Ms. Reece placed the blame squarely on the city's Department of Community Development, saying there was a "breakdown in oversight."

City Manager Valerie Lemmie referred questions to her third-in-command, Rashad Young.

"In terms of oversight, I think the staff was zealous in trying to jump-start this project, because there was a lot of community energy behind it. And they didn't want to be viewed as overly bureaucratic," he said.

"I view it, quite frankly, as a bump in the road. We cannot let this issue be the reason why we don't take care of business in Over-the-Rhine."

Mr. Pettus-Brown's disappearance is all the more surprising because he was never a stranger at City Hall.

"I met with him several times. He seemed to be a pretty accomplished young man," Mr. Luken said. "He was in my office three or four times a week. He would tell us almost every day what was going on up there."

Mr. Pettus-Brown appeared before City Council on Nov. 12 to lobby against the co-called "jock tax" - which applies the city's 2.1 percent earnings tax to athletes and entertainers - because it would hurt his ability to bring top talent into the Empire Theater.

He last met with city staffers Nov. 25. He was supposed to meet again Jan. 8, but didn't show up.

Mr. Pettus-Brown did not return messages left at his Cincinnati office. His cellular phone and his listed Japanese phone have been disconnected.

Other people that Mr. Brown listed in his proposal as officers of Pettus-Brown Inc. could not be located.

Robert Anglen contributed to this report.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com