June 2008
Link


It could take about a week before officials know what caused the fire that gutted Teddy Riley’s long-shuttered Future Records Recording Studios on Virginia Beach Boulevard early Tuesday.

Battalion Chief David Hutcheson, a spokesman for the Virginia Beach Fire Department, said investigators will determine where and how the blaze started, and whether a lightning strike, electrical problem or arson was responsible for the destruction of a one-time Beach music institution.

“When it’s destroyed as much as that was, that can be difficult,” Hutcheson said.

The defunct studio was on the selling block at the time of the fire. The owner of the property, Dunkirk Properties LLC, owes more than $18,000 in back taxes, according to the city treasurer’s office.

The company is linked to former Beach attorney Troy Titus, whose law license was revoked in 2005 after he bounced checks worth $3.3 million.

The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday by someone passing the studio near Princess Anne High School who saw smoke and flames shooting through the roof, Hutcheson said.





Firefighters had the flames under control about 40 minutes later, Hutcheson said.

In February, lawyers agreed to seek a buyer for the studio, which one described as functional even though the equipment was no longer state of the art. Late last month, an auction for the property was held, but no one met the opening bid of $500,000.

Riley, once considered the king of R&B and hip-hop, has been plagued with financial and legal problems. He filed for bankruptcy in 2002 but still owed the Internal Revenue Service about $1 million in unpaid taxes. His home in Church Point was sold in 2006 for $1.5 million. The proceeds were used to pay tax debts.

The auction was designed to help pay off a $700,000 loan against the studio that Riley later defaulted on.

The 3,300-square-foot studio had lounges, leather furniture and modern fixtures and opened in 1991. Riley, who moved to Virginia Beach around 1990, used the studio to produce songs for his group BLACKstreet and for Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Heavy D.

Something seems off but that's not my problem...

And those Dangerous demos...

Matronik said:

lmfaooo I thought of mj demos too

It doesn't take a genius to work this one out...Teddy owes a lot of money to a lot of people...you don't fuck with the mob. Mind you, he's ripped off so many people he's worked with so the list of possibles is endless...

Suspicious to say the least!

Hummm..... insurance money anyone?

Man, when it rains...it pours.

alphastreet said:

PLEASE DONT SAY THAT!!!!!

Bishop31 said:

yup yup

Graycap23 said:

That was my first thought when I read the headline!

I'm sure Teddy cleaned out Future before it mysteriously got burned. There have been "demo" dats floating around ebay for a while now. Some of MJ, some of his blackstreet stuff and some of the Guy stuff.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Yup-yup.

Cinnie said:

That's what my lazy ass gets for not reading before posting.

Graycap23 said:

But I thought the studio was repo'd last year, so he's not going to get any money from this. Besides, if it was up for auction it prolly wasn't insured.

SCNDLS said:

From my understanding, they foreclosed on the property and it was about to hit the auction block. It suspiciously got burned down before hitting the auction block.

daPrettyman said:

So maybe IF it was arson it was out of maliciousness rather than expecting to recoup anything cuz Teddy doesn't own it anymore.

Update: Fire Blamed on Electrical Problem


July 16, 2008
Link

A fire at Teddy Riley's Future Records Recording Studios last month was caused by an electrical problem, according to the results of a fire department investigation released Tuesday.

The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. on June 24 at the former R&B star's empty studio on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Heavy lightning in the area could have been a contributing factor, even though it didn't strike the building directly, said Battalion Chief David Hutcheson, a spokesman for the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

"There's no hidden agenda here," he said.

The studio was on the selling block at the time of the fire and failed to fetch a bid at auction a month earlier.

The building was insured for $336,000, said Morris H. Fine, an attorney who is selling the property for Equitable Resources Inc., Riley's biggest creditor. The value of the land will have to be re-appraised because of the fire.

Prior to the fire, the city of Virginia Beach had offered to purchase the property and develop it as a dredge site, Fine said. That offer remains on the table.

"To some limited degree, the city is going to get the property at a cheaper price because I will give them credit for the amount that I receive from the insurance," said Fine.

Riley has been dogged by financial and legal problems for years.

He filed for bankruptcy in 2002 but still owed the Internal Revenue Service about $1 million in unpaid taxes. His home in Church Point was sold in 2006 for $1.5 million, and the proceeds were used to pay tax debts.

The studio has been plagued by debt, too.

Equitable, which holds a lien on the property, attempted to auction it off in May to help recoup a $700,000 loan Riley took out in 2005 and subsequently defaulted on. No one met the $500,000 opening bid.

The 3,300-square-foot studio opened in 1991. Riley produced songs there for his group BLACKstreet as well as artists such as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Heavy D.

he was like the timbaland of the late 80s early 90s . he was the man in demand and i wonder how he screwed things up like he did.

((sending positivity))

Does anybody remember and article or interview when he was talking about doing something with Sade