Baltimore real estate developer Brandon Chasen told the court this week that he’ll soon have a new address: the Fells Point building that once was his namesake company’s headquarters.
Seemingly a problem: That building is condemned.
Chasen, 39, whose company was once considered one of the fastest-growing businesses in the country, faces personal and corporate bankruptcies and reports owing more than $71 million to creditors.
He told a bankruptcy trustee at a hearing Monday in his personal bankruptcy case that while he is “in between addresses,” he will be paying $2,000 a month to live at the building on Eastern Avenue.
On Wednesday, the old Chasen Cos. office appeared to be empty. A day earlier the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development issued a notice of code violation for construction work done without a permit.
Another notice posted on the front door of the building states, “THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED.” That means it’s unsafe.
Chasen couldn’t be reached for comment. His attorney, Adam Freiman, said in an email Wednesday that he would speak to his client about whether to comment.
The son of a well-known personal injury attorney whose clients have included Baltimore Ravens players, Chasen grew up in Potomac and formerly lived in a Four Seasons penthouse. He and his wife, Catherine, are separated.
Chasen had a taste for luxury that he often displayed in social media postings. A fleet of cars at times included Ferraris, a Lamborghini and a Smurf-blue Rolls-Royce.
He now reports that he does not own any vehicles.
When a bankruptcy trustee asked how he got to court, Chasen replied, “I was dropped off.”
He also noted he had last been behind the wheel over the summer, in a rental car.
In March, creditors flagged the sale of the company’s private jet, worth more than $5 million.
“Either the Debtor intends to remove the Jet from the reach of its creditors or intends to sell the Jet and abscond with the proceeds,” one of the creditors’ attorneys wrote at the time in court documents. Freiman, Chasen’s attorney, has denied that allegation as unsubstantiated.
Chasen agreed in July to enter Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. He made the decision after three creditors — Sandy Spring Bank, Ferguson Enterprises and Southland Insulators of Maryland Inc. — filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland to force him into that process.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Nancy V. Alquist previously pushed the construction arm of his business into Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy.

During the hearing, Andre Weitzman, an attorney for Steve and Heather Tourkin — investors who allege they’re owed more than $832,000 — questioned Chasen about the veracity of the Fells Point address.
Several process servers had tried and failed to reach him there, Weitzman said, and he accused Chasen of deliberately making himself “scarce.” Weitzman noted that people who can’t be served may never know they’ve been sued.
“How are they supposed to pursue their claims if they can’t find you?” Weitzman asked.
Chasen replied that he would move into the building once renovations were complete.
It was on the rooftop deck of that same building last year that Chasen told The Banner that he was entering a spiritual era and rejecting some of his past materialism.
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