Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Recent plans for the former Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke included turning it into senior citizen housing.

A vacant structure once regarded as a lodging jewel in downtown Roanoke will be sold if its owners do not pay real estate taxes by the end of the year.

And investors in the project are considering fraud charges against the owners.

Affirmative Equities Co., the New York-based owner of the closed Patrick Henry Hotel on South Jefferson Street, owes $53,208 in real estate taxes to the city, said City Treasurer Evelyn Powers. On Oct. 6, that amount will rise an additional $23,666 to nearly $77,000.

And if the company's taxes still are unpaid on Dec. 31, marking more than one year of delinquency, the property will be eligible for a tax sale, said Dana Long, manager of billings and collections for the city. Through a tax sale, the hotel would be sold to a new investor.

Andrew Jubelt, the president of Affirmative Equities, did not return calls for comment about the hotel's fate. His company owns the Patrick Henry through a limited partnership, Patrick Henry Hotel Associates.

Jubelt bought the hotel for $3 million in 1990, with plans to convert the 1925 property into senior housing.

But the project experienced a number of false starts, including at least four moves by lenders to foreclose on the property. In 2001, the owner went public with its plans for independent senior housing units, but it did not file a building permit until 2006, which later expired.

As of September 2007, Affirmative Equities still planned to create 104 apartments for senior citizens at the hotel, a project estimated at $28.8 million in previous reports.

The company filed another building permit to craft apartments, revamp storefronts, spruce up the lobby and restore entryway and interior architectural details.

But in October, the hotel, its upper floors already closed, was forced to shut down entirely after its temporary occupancy permit expired. The property did not have an updated sprinkler system, and it was out of compliance with city code.

Now, chains lock the front doors and white paint is peeling off the windowsills.

In July, a building permit expired, and "there's no activity," said Jeff Shawver, city building commissioner.

At least two employees per shift, who work for Affirmative Equities, conduct general maintenance at the Patrick Henry, said Daniel Rakes, city fire marshal.

Financial troubles, including unpaid federal taxes, have haunted Jubelt's company in the past. Still, it's unknown whether financial issues are a factor in the company's failure to move forward with a Patrick Henry conversion.

Jubelt's real estate handlings have threatened some investment groups.

A Georgia investment firm, Learn IRA Basics, says it is encouraging its investors to file complaints against Affirmative Equities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission because the company has not repaid funds that this group plans to use for retirement.

Through Learn IRA Basics, 130 investors have raised $20 million of more than $31 million in fund packages, in which other brokers have invested, for Affirmative Equities, said Robert House, head broker at Learn IRA Basics.

Affirmative Equities promised to pay back these investors from a package of nine to 11 real estate property investments, which include the Patrick Henry.

Deadlines for two contract dates, which were Jan. 31, 2006, and Jan. 31, 2008, have passed, and investors haven't received the principal amount from Jubelt, House said.

He said he believes that Jubelt is co-mingling funds to finance other projects.

"We need to put the fire under Mr. Jubelt," House said, who added that he's also considering filing fraud charges with the state of New York.

He described the hotel as a "mint project in downtown Roanoke."

"Now Patrick Henry is sitting there. No funds, no renovations, an empty building," House said.