Madison Marquette fined, fired over license dispute

The Ohio Real Estate Commission has levied a $200,000 fine against Madison Marquette Realty Services for leasing space without a broker's license at Tower Place Mall downtown and at the Lane Avenue Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, near Columbus.

A company spokesman said the violation stemmed from an "unfortunate administrative oversight" that has since been corrected.

"I guess they just didn't renew the license," said Jeff Ingram, with Ein Communications, a public-relations firm in Washington, D.C. "Once being notified, they were able to rectify it within two weeks."

A consultant for the mall's new owner, Northeastern Security Development Corp., said the company was surprised to learn the Madison Marquette had no commercial license.

"We are going to be changing managers," said Mayer Davis."It's going to be CB Richard Ellis."

Madison Marquette is a real estate development and advisory firm founded in 1989 by former executives of Macy's Inc. predecessor, Federated Department Stores. The firm was headquartered in Cincinnati until 2002, when it moved to Washington to reflect its growing national real estate portfolio. Its local projects have included the condo conversion of the old McAlpin's department store and Fountain Place, where it partnered with Belvedere Corp., Towne Properties and Duke Realty to build a new Macy's store in 1997.

Madison Marquette has managed and leased the Tower Place retail complex downtown since 2004. According to documents filed with the real estate commission, it marketed the mall to prospective tenants without a license between February 2005 and February 2007. The Real Estate Commission agreed to settle the case with a $200,000 penalty on Dec. 7.

Complaints involving non-licensed brokers leasing space are "fairly common" and on the rise, said Dennis Ginty, a spokesman for commission.

"The division is complaint-driven. When complaints are received, we investigate," he said.

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source: bizjournals.com