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Kiralp’s first Beaumont investment, an apartment complex called The Palms at Cardinal, allegedly due to be open for Lamar University’s 2023 spring semester -
A $940,157.16 lien notice filed on Kiralp’s Beaumont property, another document the man’s lawyer claimed he couldn’t find. -
A July-obtained record of the $14,367.88 Kiralp owed to the Denton County Tax Office for his home, a fact the man’s attorney disputes. -
A delinquent tax statement addressed to Selim Kiralp’s home concerning SK Investments LLC, a company with which the man’s attorney says he has no involvement.
An ongoing Examiner investigation has unveiled that an additional $3.8 million debt looms over the head of a Dallas-based, Turkish real estate developer – whose rhetoric with the paper was filled with “dreaming” notions of how he’d like to transform the former AT&T building in downtown Beaumont, but was short on specific details to questions posed.
Delving into the finances and real estate dealings of Selim Kiralp when his name appeared on Beaumonters’ radars as a potential developer for the 555 Main St. building, The Examiner found a series of delinquent tax bills directly attributable to the man. His self-proclaimed “dreams” of conjuring a commercially successful development out of an abandoned building convinced Beaumont City Council members to put on hold demolishing the building and advertise a request for proposal allowing interested parties to submit development plans.
Assistant City Manager Chris Boone told The Examiner the city cannot disclose whether Kiralp has submitted a proposal to purchase the building since the RFP period is open until Feb. 2.
Envisioning the future, veiling the past
In July, Kiralp sat down with The Examiner and revealed plans to spend up to $12 million to turn the 555 Main St. property into a site replete with residential lofts, restaurants and retail space. The developer was open to answering questions about his vision for the building, but offered no information when asked about previous real estate work he’s completed. He then said he wasn’t aware of the $19,847 in back taxes he then owed to McLennan and Denton counties. Since then, The Examiner has found multiple lien filings for millions in unpaid bills, attributed to Kiralp.
As reported in the Aug. 18, 2022, edition, The Examiner uncovered a $952,000 lien stalling progress on Kiralp’s student-focused apartment complex “The Palms at Cardinal,” located at 1030 West Cardinal Dr. The debt stemmed from Kiralp failing to pay his Houston-based construction company, OneForce Construction LLC.
Afterwards, the publication discovered another Kiralp-attributed bill of $3,791,654 owed to OneForce, according to the lien affidavit filing that was stamped by then-Jefferson County Clerk Laurie Leister on Sept. 13.
The Examiner obtained the 99-page document delineating Kiralp’s debt, which rises to $3,806,029 when accounting for the $14,375 in attorney’s fees he accrued through nonpayment by the aforementioned September date.
OneForce’s attorney Dan Wyde, of Dallas’ Wyde & Associates PLLC, couldn’t be reached by press time because he was on vacation Dec. 28, according to a receptionist.
According to the affidavit, the law firm mailed written notice of Kiralp’s debt to the man on July 15, which was five days before he sat down with this reporter and claimed progress on the property was running “smoothly.”
Cease and desist
In an attempt to erase the investigation laid out in the pages of this paper, and prevent further potentially unflattering unveilings, Kiralp conscripted the services of Fox Rothschild LLP-attorney Christian Dennnie to send a cease-and-desist letter to The Examiner in October.
In the subject line, Dennie demands that the publication “cease and desist from publishing false, insidious and preposterous statements about Selim Kiralp, take down any previously published defamatory statements,” before again “demanding” an apology.
“For reasons unknown, The Examiner Corporation and Scott McLendon (Collectively “Bad Actors”) have set out on a warpath to defame, demean, and publish false statements about Mr. Kiralp in two articles,” Dennie wrote in his letter dated Oct. 19. “Such statements and similar false and insidious publications shall cease, and Bad Actors shall desist at once.”
In one complaint, Dennie asserts, “Bad Actors claim Mr. Kiralp owes back taxes on his homestead. A simple review of the Denton County Appraisal District Website confirms no back taxes are owed.”
A December review of the Denton County Tax Office – where such records are actually held – does show that Kiralp no longer owes $14,367 for his home. However, according to documents obtained in July, Kiralp did owe the $14,000 for his Lewisville property when The Examiner reported it in July. A review of Kiralp’s file shows he owed more than $4,000 in interest when he finally paid Sept. 26, 2022 – more than two months after that fact appeared in this publication.
In an attempt to distance his client from another indebted enterprise The Examiner linked to Kiralp, Dennie listed his fifth grievance, writing, “Bad Actors claim that SK Investment Properties, LLC owes back taxes in both Denton and McLennan Counties. That may or may not be true, but Mr. Kiralp is not affiliated or associated with SK Investment Properties, LLC. A simple review of the information on file with the Texas Secretary of State confirms that the member and director of SK Investment Properties, LLC is Kyunghee Yoo - not Mr. Kiralp.”
“This assertion is both lazy and uninspiring of a journalist to be so flat wrong,” claims Kiralp’s lawyer.
However, a delinquent tax statement filed by the McLennan County Tax-Assessor Collector in July lists SK Investment’s certified owner’s address as 1025 Damsel Caroline Dr. – Selim Kiralp’s home address.
“Bad Actors attempt to paint Mr. Kiralp as a bad actor as a result of litigation between the former general contractor of The Palms at Cardinal and a subcontractor,” Dennie wrote. “Mr. Kiralp correctly pointed out that such litigation is between the former general contractor and its subcontractor for amounts purportedly owed by the former general contractor to its subcontractor.”
In constrast to Dennie’s claims, Kiralp was listed as the debtor on the $952,504.31 lien filed by Cooley Construction, as well as the $3,806,029 lien filed by OneForce Construction – both in relation to his Cardinal Drive apartment complex.
“A title search does not reveal the filing of any lien associated with the property in Jefferson County, Texas,” Dennie wrote in reference to Kiralp’s development. “If you have a copy of a file-stamped lien filed in the real property records of Jefferson County, Texas, Mr. Kiralp demands that you immediately provide the same to the undersigned.”
In fact, The Examiner does have a copy of the document Kiralp’s lawyer was unable to locate, so does the Jefferson County Clerk. A copy can be viewed along with this story online at theexaminer.com or by accessing the County Clerk’s website.
Truth and proof
Dennie went on to claim that Examiner articles concerning Kiralp violate Section 73.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. That section outlines the illegality of libel, which are published, false statements. Dennie declared, “Such published statements 1) injure Mr. Kiralp’s reputation and, thus, expose him to public hatred, contempt, and ridicule, [Sic] and financial injury; and 2) impeaches Mr. Kiralp’s honesty, integrity, virtue, and reputation.
“Your published statements are clearly erroneous and ludicrous,” Dennie opined. “These defamatory statements were clearly published without any evidence of the same and with actual malice because you have knowledge of or reckless disregard for the falsity of your defamatory statements.
“Bad Actors have a high degree of awareness of the falsity of your false statements. All such statements must cease at once.”
Along with this story online, The Examiner has posted each document referenced in this and previous articles. Those documents are also available for public consumption on the various county websites.
Despite endeavoring to reach all sources relevant to an issue, The Examiner did not call Kiralp for comment on this story update – per direction of his attorney, who wrote at the end of his cease-and-desist letter:
“If you direct any response or communication to Mr. Kiralp, such action will be taken as and considered threatening and harassment.”
The Examiner will continue to update this story as it develops.