Blues persist for Teddy Riley's studio as no one meets opening bid

[Dangerous Incorporated]

The red light glowing outside one of the rooms read "STOP: in session," but no one was recording anything Tuesday. The people gathered in Teddy Riley's Future Records Recording Studios came to see it auctioned off.
The studio once drew music's biggest names to Virginia Beach in hopes of scoring a hit with R&B pioneer Riley. But that glory seemed far past as potential buyers looked over the space.


The 3,300-square-foot studio - an expansive property with lounges, leather furniture and modern fixtures that once drew such pop stars as Michael Jackson - wasn't compelling enough for investors. No one bit at the opening bid of $500,000.


"I just would have torn it down," said Mike Honaker, a veterinarian whose office is next door to the studio at 4338 Virginia Beach Blvd.


Honaker is looking to expand his practice, and the studio, appraised at $735,000, sits on land he wants to use for parking. Honaker found the starting bid too high, however. "That's an expensive parking lot," he said.
Riley's studio has become more symbolic of the producer's woes than it was of his musical success in the 1990s.


He filed for bankruptcy in 2002 but emerged a year later only to run afoul of the IRS to the tune of a $1 million lien for unpaid taxes. He sold his Church Point home in 2006 for $1.5 million to pay off federal and state taxes.


Tuesday's auction stems from $700,000 Riley borrowed against the studio in 2005 from local lender Equitable Relocation Services. He subsequently defaulted on the loan and Equitable moved to collect.


Riley's creditors agreed to sell the studio in February, but the situation has been complicated by deeds that connect the property to a disbarred Virginia Beach lawyer, Troy A. Titus. A February 2007 suit alleges Titus fraudulently conveyed the property to a company he owned and then obtained $475,000 in loans secured by the property.


It's a bigger mess than the boxes of files, DAT tapes and loose wires scattered around the studio.


Morris Fine, the attorney representing the creditors and acting as receiver in the auction, said that with no takers in the auction, things are more or less back to square one.


Fine said the city has expressed interest in the property as a site for disposal of dredged material. He wasn't sure what would happen next to the property or to the remaining equipment inside.


"I'm disappointed," Fine said. "I just thought it would have been better than if we advertised it - some finality to it. "

Source:

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/05/blues-persist-teddy-rileys-studio-no-one-meets-opening-bid​

 

[Superstition]

Sad to hear. Not really sure what caused his issues though, surely he made/makes tons of money off royalties?

 

[BruceWayne]

This article is old and the studio has burned down since then, it's so sad!

Other than that, "Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo" (The Neptunes) who are from Virginia and got discovered by Teddy Riley should have been ashamed if they didn't bought the studio in a situation where it could've become a parking lot.
Pharrell always talks about how important it is with his roots and the different things he grew up around in Virginia. $750 000 is a piss in the ocean for him since he get $250 000 per track, and then we don't even talk royalties which also comes afterwards.

 

[144000]

first of all, it's interesting how they mention Michael's name alone, when something goes afoul, but want to mention his name along with others, when something goes well. envy. other than that, i never heard of Teddy Riley's troubles. i guess they don't consider him big enough to splash giant headlines on mainstream media, every time something bad happens to him. and, i guess it confirms that playing your stuff on the radio doesn't pay that much, cus i've heard his stuff during oldies hours on r and b stations. i wonder if they pay him when they spin his stuff? or is radio not as viable as it's easy to think it is? i guess people don't buy his stuff as repeatedly as they buy Michael's. and maybe Riley should've bought publishing, like MJ did.

anyway...this is a really sad story.

 

[Superstition]

This article is old and the studio has burned down since then, it's so sad!

Other than that, "Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo" (The Neptunes) who are from Virginia and got discovered by Teddy Riley should have been ashamed if they didn't bought the studio in a situation where it could've become a parking lot.
Pharrell always talks about how important it is with his roots and the different things he grew up around in Virginia. $750 000 is a piss in the ocean for him since he get $250 000 per track, and then we don't even talk royalties which also comes afterwards.

I'm not really seeing how Pharrell was obligated to buy the studio. Imagine if other popular acts had to cater to everyone in their past pivotal to their success.

 

[BruceWayne]

I'm not really seeing how Pharrell was obligated to buy the studio. Imagine if other popular acts had to cater to everyone in their past pivotal to their success.

He's of course not "obligated" to buy, but I think it would've been the "right thing" for him and Chad to do.
Maybe I feel like that because that's what I would've done.

 

[StaceyMJ]

Wow that's really sad. I had no idea about any of this. What a shame.