CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Florida-based company which owns eight apartment buildings in Charleston faces a series of criminal charges over violations of the city fire codes. Patriot Services Group out of Jacksonville, Florida is named for a eight fire-code violations in the criminal complaint filed in municipal court.
The charges are all for violations at the Belvedere Apartments.
Along with the owner, identical charges have been leveled against the management group which oversees the day to day operations. Two separate criminal complaints identify the two managers in separate cases as Leah Douthit and Robert Appleby. Both are tied to Integrity Rise Management LLC which is based in St. Augustine, Fla.
Patriot Services owns a total of eight properties in Charleston. Along with the Belvedere, they also own Greenbrier Gardens, One Morris, Cavalier, Aracoma, Summerfield, and Chateau. The Cavalier Apartments on Virginia Street are closed and boarded up after heavy damage from a fire. The company also formerly owned the Regal Apartments on Kanawha Boulevard. That building burned down in January 2023. The damage was so severe, the structure had to be razed.
City inspectors are constantly inspecting the company’s other properties in the city and more criminal charges could be forthcoming without attention to the fire code violations.