Some wins take a while

I promise you, this story is about perseverance, doing the right thing, and helping those who have been through hell. At the end of it, there will even be some Section 8 properties you can buy and make a lot of money. But our path to get there is going to be very rough. You won’t enjoy reading this, but I assure you, I enjoyed writing it even less. You’ve been warned.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has been covering up systemic sexual abuse of children since at least the 1950s. Abuse perhaps gently dances around the issue; raping, taking children across state lines with the intent of raping them, and leaving some of them needing reconstructive surgery and a lifetime of mental health counseling. As is sadly all too common in cases like this, some of the 500+ victims committed suicide, and many others struggle with deep depression. Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty connected to this case. I can’t share all of what I know for a variety of reasons, but if you recall the movie Spotlight, what’s happened in New Orleans is bigger and worse. Various priests and dozens of clergymen abused children for decades, and the Catholic Church provided them cover with the aid of Federal Magistrate Judges, local press, and the wealthiest woman in Louisiana.

Churches, like most things, need money to continue their existence. For the Archdiocese of New Orleans, a chunk of that money comes from their portfolio of Section 8 properties. And, as you may have guessed, this is where a stubborn mf’er like me makes his first appearance in the story. Today, I’ll tell you about the real estate and how you can buy it (and why I can’t), how I helped force the Archdiocse to sell this portfolio (known locally as Christopher Homes), the bullshit I had to put up with, who helped cover up the abuse, and how public interest in this sale can pressure the church to use the proceeds to pay the victims.

The abuse is well documented in the news, a simple google search of “Archdiocese of New Orleans sexual abuse lawsuit” will reveal multiple articles that cover the details. I won’t rehash too many of them here, but you should read about it. These people are monsters.

The Real Estate

The Archdiocese of New Orleans (“ANO”) owns ~15 properties with more than 1,800 units, most of which benefit from a Project-Based Rental Contract with HUD. HUD pays for these contracts with your tax dollars, so that’s fun. Some of these buildings are in fantastic locations and are worth a small fortune. The ones I know about are listed below.

Much to the Church’s chagrin, I tracked this information down through FOIA requests (Section 8 contracts and rent schedules) and research on Pro Publica to get their financials. If you’d like this information because it will help you make an offer, please feel free to email me. When required, I’m one of the most persistent people on this planet. With this information, I was able to underwrite their real estate and make Archbishop Gregory Aymond an offer. Aymond will come up later, he’s part of the cover up, but he declined my offer.

This is valuable real estate, and a savvy buyer can make a lot of money providing the much-needed renovation of these properties. Plus, the affordable housing programs in place guarantee that residents won’t receive any rent increase. A sale would be a great outcome for the residents.

If you want to be considered a buyer, reach out to Jones Walker, LLP or Heller, Draper, & Horn, LLC. They represent the church and would simply love to hear about your interest in the church's very valuable real estate, which they’ve worked so hard to conceal from bankruptcy. Also, the church may be forced to sell with a real estate broker (I know the names of the groups pitching the business), and when one is selected, I’ll be sure to let you all know.

Fun tidbit here. ANO provided false and inflated claims for hurricane relief funds in the aftermath of Katrina and was accused of not using that money for repairs. They settled with the government for more than $1,000,000 without a determination of fault. But, look, if you’re making me pay you $1,000,000, it’s because I’ve done something wrong.

The Lawsuit

Before starting my own company, I worked for a firm that did business in Louisiana. We specialized in redeveloping Section 8 properties and I made sure to know every owner with a significant portfolio in the State of Louisiana. I knew about Christopher Homes for years before making an offer.

In early 2020, news of the lawsuit broke, and ANO turned their pockets inside out and filed for bankruptcy. For those playing along at home, the LARGEST real estate owner in the world filed for bankruptcy. This little stunt pissed me off, so I started to get involved. First, I tracked down the data I needed and made the church an offer. “You seem to be out of money, so here’s some in exchange for your real estate.” When they said no, I forwarded the list of properties, my offer, and documentation of the church turning down my offer to Plantif’s counsel. And here’s where things started to accelerate.

Plantif’s counsel was unaware of the Christopher Homes portfolio when I came along, though I’m confident they would have discovered it in time, but proof of the church turning down money was enough to get them pretty fired up. My offer was presented in court, and ANO said, “It’s worth more than that.” Oh yeah? So, I offered a bigger number and said, “Happy to provide proof of funds.” They then said, “It’s not worth that much; these properties are a liability, no way this is a real offer.” Counsel said, “Well, then you should be overjoyed that some idiot from out of town wants to pay you this much. Take his money and run.” The church did not.

What followed was a mix of harassing phone calls telling me I shouldn’t be interested in the churches real estate, interviews with reporters who were in the churches pockets, and a bunch of bullshit requests from the churches attorney’s. They wanted me to put down a multi-million dollar non-refundable deposit just for the opportunity to look at some documents. You want me to simply give you millions with no contractual right to buy the real estate? I got an idea, how about you go fuck yourself. My masochistic tendencies are well documented (I’m in affordable housing after all), but this kind of rodeo was new.

The People

Archbishop Gregory Aymond. When addressing an Archbishop, you’re supposed to use “your excellency” or “your grace,” but given my current mood, we’re just gonna call him Greg. Greg has not handled any of this well. You can read about his mistakes here, here, here, here, here, here, and also here. In case you don’t want to click all those links, none of them say “ol’ Greg is a great guy!” The last one involves the wealthiest woman in Louisiana.

Gayle Benson. Gayle owns the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans and is worth around 7 billion. Good for Gayle. Gayle is also very close with Greg and used the Saints’ marketing staff to help ANO manage public perception and downplay the abuse in the press. But hey, who am I to tell Gayle how to spend her hard-earned money? She built an interior design empire and, through sheer hustle and business acumen, bought two professional sports teams. Sorry, my editor is telling me that’s not how it actually went down. Apparently, Gayle married Tom Benson (the guy who owned the Saints and Pelicans) and then pushed to have his daughter and grandchildren removed from his will. Seems like a nice thing to do. Here’s pic of Gayle and Greg.

Terri North. Terri is the CEO of Providence Community Housing, a nonprofit that assumed management of the Christopher Homes portfolio in 2022. Terri also worked for ANO for 20 years. I don’t have much of an issue with this. ANO made a decision to bring in third-party management, Terri’s company seems capable. But why Terri?

Federal Magistrate Judge Michael North. Mike is Terri’s husband. In December 2020, Mike oversaw the deposition of Lawrence Hecker, an admitted child abuser. He then ruled that Hecker’s testimony should be sealed from the public for reasons no one agreed with. People didn’t like this and called for him to recuse himself because of obvious conflicts of interest. He initially refused, but eventually, Judge Smooth-Brain relented and recused himself.

If you were the Archbishop, and you were going to award management of your large housing portfolio, do you think you’d consider awarding it to the woman who used to work for you and whose husband is risking his career to keep sex abuse quiet? I dunno, maybe.

Lawrence Hecker. Far from the only abuser, but the way the church handled him is indicative of how they deal with these issues. Hecker started abusing kids in the late 1950s. When the Archbishop got a complaint, they sent Hecker to NYC for a one-year sabbatical. Ten years later, Hecker admitted to raping and kidnapping kids, independent psychiatrists determined he was a pedophile and a danger to the community, but the church kept him around anyway.

Why am I telling you about this excellent opportunity and not buying the property myself?

Fair question. ANO is not a fan of mine at all. I’m one of the reasons why they need to sell this portfolio. They know it, and I know it. ANO is still a pretty powerful force in New Orleans, and I’m confident they will go out of their way to pressure people into making my life difficult if I buy the real estate. Wouldn’t you? I firmly believe you can’t show up to every fight you’re invited to, so I’m not the buyer.

Why get involved?

First, it really is great real estate, and you can make a lot of money.

Second, reaching out to the attorneys, the press, the ANO, etc., only helps make this process more public, and that is something ANO does not want. A lot of interest, coupled with pressure from potential buyers and the community at large, may help ensure the proceeds of this sale (more than $100m) will go to the victims and not to the ANO or their attorneys.

Below is a very real outcome.

• You (the buyer) make a lot of money.

• The current residents get fully renovated buildings with no rent increases. (That’s how Section 8 works.)

• The victims of this horrific abuse get some money to try to rebuild their lives.

• The church has to face the consequences of its actions.

Go forth and prosper.