This shorter portion gives sufficient documentation in and of itself for revocation of Overlook Development’s FBE status.  However, the extensive additional documentation (all of which has been provided to the HRC) is available for review in the posting below as well.  WAVE3’s Eric Flack also investigated these questions.  His reports are linked in a separate posting below.

Exhibit 1 provides the first 2 pages of Louisville Metro Ordinance No. 102, Series 2007.  On page 2, the following definition is provided:

“FEMALE OWNED BUSINESS.  A business enterprise legally constituted under the laws of the state, including but not limited to an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, or cooperative, which enterprise is not an affiliate or a subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation and has employees identified in its own payroll records, working specifically for such entity and which entity is majority owned and controlled by a person or a combination of persons who are female and legal residents of the United States.”  (emphasis added)

The Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission (HRC) carries out its duty to certify a legitimate Female Business Enterprise (FBE) according to the definition above by use of its MBE/FBE/HBE Certification Application (Exhibit 2).  Please note that the HRC indicates on the last page (page 6) that one of the expected statements to meet the definition for certification is:  “The Company is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation.”  Page 2 of the application asks about this issue as follows:  “Are you an Affiliate or subsidiary of another company that provides any of the services listed above?”

Exhibit 3 is a pdf totalling 16 pages that shows how Lisa Dischinger of Overlook Development and Carolyn M. Bauer, an attorney of the Adams Law Group, submitted this application in 2008 and 2010.

In 2008, Lisa Dischinger did not provide an answer to the affiliate-or-subsidiary question (see the first page of the pdf).  Attorney Bauer’s letter at that time did assert:  “The Company is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation.”  (page 4 of the pdf).  Pages 5 & 6 of Exhibit 3 show that the HRC certified Overlook Development as an FBE based on the application materials submitted.

In 2010, an interesting series of events occurred in their application for continuation of FBE status.  Page 7 of the pdf shows the application form where the question “Are you an Affiliate or subsidiary of another company that provides any of the services listed above?” is truthfully answered “Yes.”  However, attorney Bauer’s letter at that time asserted once again that:  “The Company is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation.”  Due to the contradiction, Bobbi Selmon notified Lisa Dischinger that a “corrected application and/or attorney letter” would be needed to be considered as an FBE.  Lisa Dischinger decided to switch her answer to “No” – which means that Overlook Development claims to not be an affiliate or a subsidiary of another company that provides “Development of Affordable Rental Housing.”  It should be noted that Lisa Dischinger signed the following statement on the application:  “The undersigned hereby swears under penalty of law that all statements made and information provided in this application are true.”  (see page 12 of the pdf).  The final pages of the pdf (15 & 16) show the certification obtained based on this changed application.  This FBE certification is what was used in the April 2012 application for government funding through the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC).

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One big problem for Lisa Dischinger and Overlook Development is…

Bill Bardenwerper, the attorney for the developer of Frontgate Apartments, directly contradicted the FBE-qualifying claims of Lisa Dischinger and Carolyn M. Bauer in his testimony before the Planning Commission on December 6, 2012 (see Exhibit 4).  According to Bardenwerper:

“LDG is a company we’ve always mentioned because LDG, which is Lechner Dischinger Group, like any developer has a number of entities that work under it.  Some of our clients, every time they do a project, they put it under a different name.  I mean, that’s just very typical in the development business.  So, actually, Overlook Development LLC, which is a related entity of the Dischinger and Lechner group with which Michael is associated, is the official applicant now…”   (emphasis added).

Bardenwerper’s statements above are sufficient basis for the HRC to immediately and permanently revoke Overlook Development’s FBE status.  But there’s more…

The profile section of LDG Development’s website ( http://www.ldgdevelopment.com/ ) indicates that LDG was founded by Mark Lechner and Chris Dischinger in 1994.  The various applications provided in the name of Overlook Development to both the Human Relations Commission for FBE Certification and the Kentucky Housing Corporation for awards of government funding indicate that Overlook Development LLC was formed in 2004 by Lisa Dischinger (51%) and Mark Lechner (49%) with ZERO employees.  To summarize:

LDG Development (1994-)                 Overlook Development (2004-)

Chris Dischinger                                             Lisa Dischinger (51%) – Chris’s wife

& Mark Lechner                                              & Mark Lechner (49%)

with employees                                              with ZERO employees

Therefore, any actions by Chris Dischinger are in regards to LDG Development, not Overlook Development.

While Bill Bardenwerper’s Dec. 6^th explanation of the relationship between LDG and Overlook was accurate, his declaration that Overlook Development is the actual developer was not accurate.  Exhibit 5 shows that AFTER Bardenwerper’s Dec. 6^th “it actually is Overlook Development LLC” claim to the Planning Commission, he wrote to our attorney, Steve Porter, saying, “I took what you said and ran it past Chris and Michael.”  That is Chris Dischinger and Michael Gross.  Why Chris – NOT Lisa?  As it has been all along with Frontgate Apartments – Chris Dischinger (thus LDG) continues to be a primary decision-maker – NOT Lisa (Overlook).

Much more documentation exists (and is presented in the post below).

Our request to the Human Relations Commission is simple – please respect and enforce the following HRC policy statement from the “Approval of your Certification Application” letter (page 15 of Exhibit 3):

“This certification is based on the information and documentation that was submitted and if it is later found to be false the approval will automatically be revoked pending an investigation by the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission.”

Recently, the HRC emphasized its commitment to protecting the integrity of their certification process by posting the following on its website (see Exhibit 6):  “NOTE:  Effective December 15, 2012, the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission requires all vendors to completely, thoroughly, and accurately complete and submit all documents.”  Only by investigating and revoking the FBE status of Overlook Development will the HRC affirm the integrity of its certification process.

For much more documentation of the role of Chris Dischinger and LDG Development in the Frontgate Apartments proposal (in contradiction to the claims made to the Human Relations Commission and the Kentucky Housing Corporation in order to gain advantage in seeking government funding as a Female Business Enterprise), see the first submission we provided to the HRC – restated in the post below.

For context, I recommend that you review the shorter portion of documentation in the post above before reviewing this longer portion of documentation.  Eric Flack’s reports in the post below also address some aspects of this issue and provide additional information for consideration.

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It appears that the relationship between LDG Development LLC and Overlook Development LLC (and possibly other information about Overlook Development) contradicts the claims of Overlook Development in seeking the Female Business Enterprise (FBE) Certification.  Please review the following information (or have it reviewed by the appropriate governing body) for a decision regarding existing and future certification of Overlook Development LLC.

Exhibit A (this was a combination of Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2) contains the first two pages of Ordinance No. 102, Series 2007 followed by the MBE/FBE/HBE Certification application form with guidelines for completion.  Please note the definition for FEMALE OWNED BUSINESS on page 2 of the ordinance.  Also, please notice the indication on the last page of the application guidelines that “The Company is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation” is an expected statement.

Exhibit B (this is now provided as Exhibit 3) contains the completed documentation that the Human Relations Commission (HRC) has on file regarding the certification of Overlook Development LLC as an FBE.  Within the exhibit, please notice the December 21, 2010 letter from Bobbi Selmon that points out a discrepancy: “Application indicates company is an Affiliate or Subsidiary of another company that provides same services and, attorney letter indicates otherwise.”  The original submission in 2010 answered “Yes” to “Are you an Affiliate or subsidiary of another company that provides any of the services listed above?” while the lawyer’s letter that followed said “2. The Company is not an affiliate or subsidiary of a business dominant in its field of operation.”  The certification was granted on January 7, 2011 – apparently based on an adjustment of Lisa Dischinger’s application such that the answer to that question became “No.”  (The previous application dated 9/22/08 did not give an answer to that question.)

Please note from the application that Overlook Development was established on August 25, 2004 and has two owners and zero employees.

Exhibit C contains a printout of various parts of LDG Development’s website.  Please note:

• On the first page, there is a reference to “LDG Multifamily’s… development, The Muses” – also at the top of the LDG News page.
• On the Profile page, LDG Development was “founded by partners Mark Lechner and Chris Dischinger in 1994.”  Please also note the description of “LDG and its related companies” as stated under “EXPERTISE.”  This sounds a lot like what Overlook Development’s FBE application states: “Development of Affordable Rental Housing.”
• On the Projects page, LDG lists all of its projects.  This list will be compared to Overlook Development’s project claims below.
• On the Partners page, LDG lists a number of projects with the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) and other affordable housing funding agencies.
•  On the Contact Us page (and at the bottom of all LDG web pages), LDG Development’s contact information is stated as 1469 South Fourth Street, Louisville, KY 40208 with phone 502.638.0534 and fax 502.638.9197.  This contact information is identical to the contact information provided by Lisa Dischinger regarding Overlook Development to the HRC (Exhibit 3).  Also please note that Overlook Development’s email address ends with @ldgdevelopment.com (Exhibit 3).

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During 2012, the actions and documentation regarding the Frontgate Apartments proposal for 7411 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40228 show that claims were made to the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) regarding Lisa Dischinger and Overlook Development, but the actual activity on Frontgate has involved Chris Dischinger and LDG.  This relationship of LDG to Overlook appears to violate the FBE designation.

Exhibit D is the 2012 application to KHC by Overlook Development LLC as the developer of record for the 32-unit part of the Frontgate Apartments proposal.   Please note for future reference that “LDG Multifamily” is not listed on this application.  On page 2, Michael Gross is listed as the contact person (with an @ldgdevelopment.com email address) and the street address, phone and fax number matches LDG Development but Overlook Development is identified as the developer.  At the bottom of page 2, the Developer section includes the following:  “Is the project being developed by a female owned and managed development entity and receiving at least 51% of the developer fee for the proposed project?” with the answer “Yes.”  If LDG were listed as the developer of record, this answer would have to be “No.”

Exhibit E is the 2012 application to KHC by Overlook Development LLC as the developer of record for the 180-unit part of the Frontgate Apartments proposal (same also-LDG contact information is used).

Exhibit F is the Overlook Development LLC brochure which was submitted to KHC in support of both applications.  Please note that the Organizational Chart on page 4 states the two owners (Lisa Dischinger and Mark Lechner) with no employees.  Highlighted projects in Overlook Development’s brochure (Glenn Hill Manor, Elk Horn Creek I and II, Whispering Woods, Elk River Senior) are listed on LDG Development’s website (see Exhibit C – Projects).  The final page lists the “Development Team Bond Experience” for Overlook Development.  Nearly all of these properties are listed on LDG Development’s website (see Exhibit C – Projects).  Most notably, Overlook Development’s list includes Cambridge Station Apartments in Indianapolis.  However, when the Indianapolis Housing Authority (IHA) filed 2 demand notices totaling over one-million dollars against Cambridge Station in 2010 due to “suspected fraud or abuse”, LDG Development, not Overlook Development, was the party notified.  See Exhibit G for the first two pages of each demand notice by the IHA Office of Special Investigations.

Exhibit H contains the letters generated by Michael Gross in the name of Overlook Development in order to fulfill this KHC notification requirement.

The first 2 pages of Exhibit J are Mayor Fischer’s April 18, 2012 letter of support written to KHC.  Because this letter is written to KHC who has a scoring element that favors FBEs, it talks about “Overlook Development LLC” throughout with no mention of LDG.  However, 6 days after the mayor’s letter to KHC supporting Overlook Development, on April 24, 2012, I received the next two pages of Exhibit J – an email response in which Mayor Fischer says:  “I appreciate you writing to share your concerns about the apartment complex proposed by LDG Development…”.  This email goes on to praise LDG Development “as top-notch in the field of affordable housing developments” (compare this phrasing to “Development of Affordable Rental Housing” as stated on Overlook Development’s HRC application).  There is no mention of Overlook Development in this email.  There is a clear recognition of the actual developer behind this project being LDG.

Exhibit J also contains the email exchange between Mayor Fischer and Mark Lechner (with closing signature stating LDG Development – not Overlook Development – see page 6 of the pdf).  Please note that Lechner’s March 7^th email to Brenda Frank copied Chris Dischinger, not Lisa (see page 5 of the pdf).  Following these two pages of email communication is my ORR – the last page of which is the sample letter attachment sent by Mark Lechner to the mayor’s office (as he referenced).  Please note that the sample letter (last page) indicates “LDG Multifamily LLC” – not Overlook Development.

Exhibit L is the “Applicant/Developer Certification Form” submitted to KHC by Lisa Dischinger of Overlook Development – claiming that the application materials are true and correct.

Exhibit M contains a couple pages (page 1 and page 16) from the “Zoning” document prepared in March 2012 by Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services to be submitted to KHC.  Please note that on page 16 (the Property Zoning Certification Application) Michael Gross scratched out LDG to write in Overlook Development as the Company.

Exhibit N is the Kentucky Housing Corporation’s “Competitive Application Score Sheet” for the Frontgate Apartments proposal.  Please see that the claim that the developer was Overlook Development/Lisa Dischinger (using the FBE certification from HRC) gained 5 points in part 4 (Sponsorship Characteristics) of the Development Team section.  These points would not have been awarded to LDG.  That section says:  “Project is developed by a for-profit female-controlled and managed development entity.  This entity has received proper certification.”

While the application and supporting documentation presented to the Kentucky Housing Corporation claimed Lisa Dischinger/Overlook Development in order to gain a scoring advantage for the government funding, the following evidence locally overwhelmingly indicates that Chris Dischinger/LDG is the actual developer engaged in the Frontgate Apartments proposal with Michael Gross (notice the @ldgdevelopment.com email address – and the fact that Overlook Development claims in its documentation to have no employees) as the primary contact.  First, Mayor Fischer’s standard email response (Exhibit J) that was sent to me and other local residents recognized LDG Development as the actual developer.  Additionally…

Exhibit O is the Frontgate Apartments June 18, 2012 standard application to Louisville Metro Planning & Design Services (PDS).  Please note on page 2 that the Applicant Company Name is “LDG Multi-Family LLC.”  This applicant company name of “LDG Multi-Family LLC” also appears on the next page.  Overlook Development is not mentioned on this PDS application.

Exhibit P is page 1 of the Comment Sheet from PDS to Michael Gross at “LDG Multi-Family LLC” – not Overlook Development.

Exhibit Q is very significant.  It is the Powerpoint presentation used for the community meeting at Moore High School on July 16, 2012 (with hundreds of residents in attendance).  The logo throughout the presentation is LDG Development with no mention of Overlook Development.  The presenters that evening were Chris Dischinger, Michael Gross, Bill Bardenwerper and David Mindel.  Lisa Dischinger was not involved in the presentation.  [Additional note here:  See Eric Flack’s references to this community meeting in both Wednesday’s and Friday’s investigative reports.]  Two subsequent meetings with a small group of neighborhood leaders mediated by Metro Council President Jim King involved the same four men both times.  Chris, the co-founder of LDG with Mark Lechner in 1994, was involved – not Lisa, co-owner of Overlook with Mark Lechner in 2004.  When I had an opportunity to meet with Michael Gross and David Mindel on October 26, 2012 to discuss a reduced-size counter-proposal, they referred to Chris Dischinger being out of town with no mention of Lisa in regard to the possibility of meeting.

Exhibit R (This was provided to HRC but is not posted here.)  provides copies of the various email communication headers to indicate who was copied on email communications by Bill Bardenwerper, the attorney representing the developer.  On many occasions, Chris Dischinger was copied, but never Lisa.  (The evidence that Chris was copied but not Lisa is indicated by the initial “C” but never “L” within the email address of interest.)

Exhibit S is a copy of the front and back of the LDG Development viewbook that was handed out by Michael Gross on September 18, 2012 to all members of the Capital Projects & Bond Oversight Committee during their monthly meeting in Frankfort.  This was a moment of truth in Frankfort about who the actual developer is – which directly contradicted the “Overlook Development” claims on all application materials to KHC up to that point.

Please note:

If the KHC application materials had said “LDG” instead of Overlook Development, they would not have been awarded the points for being an FBE.  The evidence strongly indicates that Chris Dischinger and Mark Lechner of LDG Development have used their relationship to Lisa Dischinger and Overlook Development (and its certification as an FBE by the HRC) in order to gain an advantage in the competition for government funding.  Please investigate this possibility.

Why would the wife of one co-founder of a then-10-year-old (comparing 1994 to 2004) affordable housing development company enter into a 51% ownership relationship with the other co-founder of the original company so that the new company can engage in the same type of business?

Why would the list of projects by Overlook Development overlap to an incredible extent with the list of projects by LDG Development?

Why would Chris Dischinger (not Lisa) be fully engaged in the community presentation and subsequent negotiation meetings if Frontgate Apartments were truly being developed by Overlook Development (which has Lisa and Mark as co-owners with no employees)?

It is our understanding that this relationship between LDG Development and Overlook Development warrants the revocation/denial of FBE status:  “This certification is based on the information and documentation that was submitted and if it is later found to be false the approval will automatically be revoked pending an investigation by the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission.”  (This statement is located at the bottom of the January 7, 2011 approval letter.)  Please investigate the answers on Lisa Dischinger’s Overlook Development FBE application in light of the company’s relationship to Chris Dischinger’s LDG Development.

Hear Eric Flack on 84WHAS with Tony Cruise on Thursday morning, January 17th (mislabeled as 1/15) here.

See Eric’s additional story about Overlook Development and LDG that ran on Friday, January 18th here.

See the extra raw footage of Eric’s interview with Michael Gross here.

“The quality of LDG’s work has been recognized as top-notch in the field of affordable housing developments.  In fact the developer has a national reputation and is ranked the 6th best affordable housing developer out of 50 according to Affordable Housing Finance.  I encourage you to check out the company’s website:  http://www/ldgdevelopment.com/ ”

For some reason, Bill Bardenwerper is obsessed with stuffing a terrible development plan (way too big and not LDC compliant)  into a small location in the heart of Highview.  In 2009, his efforts were met with strong resistance by the community.  Thankfully the developer went away at that time.  Contrary to his 2009 claims of willingness to “meet ’til the cows come home” to work with Highview leadership about concerns with development of the property, he invited no such meetings in 2010 or 2011 or 2012.  Instead, he quietly revived the project under a new name and with a new developer, securing Mayor Fischer’s support (in a manner exhibiting a total disregard for the Mayor’s claim to uphold his “Citizen’s Bill of Rights”).

What is the Mayor Fischer – Bill Bardenwerper connection?

One key:  Bill Bardenwerper was on Mayor Fischer’s transition team.

Update:  For some reason, Mr. Bardenwerper seems to be a bit sensitive about this post that points to a connection between him and Mayor Greg Fischer.  I will add the following to clarify what more we now understand.

Based upon subsequent Open Records Request information received, the direct contact asking for (and getting) Mayor Greg Fischer’s support appears to be email communication on/around March 2012 from Mark Lechner of LDG (copying Chris Dischinger of LDG) to Mayor Fischer and/or his staff.  Somehow, Mr. Lechner provides a draft letter of support that makes reference to “Outer Loop Apartments” – a name that seems to come from the original 2009 version of this proposal when Bill Bardenwerper, David Mindel and another developer entity were pushing essentially the same design concept.  The origination of this draft letter (Bill or David or the other developer entity or other) is unclear.  Also unclear is the subsequent communication with Mayor Fischer and/or his staff resulting in the adjustments from “Outer Loop Apartments” to Frontgate Apartments and from “LDG Multifamily” to Overlook Development.

Bill Bardenwerper has been involved in pushing this proposal since at least 2009.  Bill Bardenwerper was part of Mayor Fischer’s transition team.  What direct or indirect involvement he may have had connecting Lechner and Fischer is unclear.

Mark your calendars!  Bring your neighbors, friends and family!

Attend the meeting with LDG Development representatives that is open for all concerned citizens:

Date:  Monday, July 16, 2012

Time:  7:00 p.m.

Location:  Moore Traditional High School, 6415 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40228.

City housing officials call Cambridge Station “an epicenter of violent crime” — and they blame the owners of the apartment complex.  So much so, the Indianapolis Housing Agency is demanding that the Louisville, Ky.-based landlords return more than $800,000 in taxpayer funded rent subsidy payments.  And if they don’t pay up by Monday, the IHA says, it will possibly pursue fraud charges in the largest such case of its kind in Indianapolis…