Ex-owner Of Collapsed Davenport Complex Accused Of Selling Assets So Tenants Can't Collect

The former owner of the now-demolished Davenport apartment building that partially collapsed in May 2023 and killed three residents is being accused of selling off his assets so the plaintiffs in a lawsuit could not collect, new court documents allege.

Andrew Wold, 43, was the owner of The Davenport, a 116-year-old former hotel in downtown Davenport, when the building suffered a partial collapse on May 28, 2023, killing three residents, injuring another and displacing dozens of residents. Wold had bought the building in 2021 and was accused of knowingly failing to address the dangerous condition of the building wall.

Subsequent investigations found that inadequate maintenance and improper shoring of a load-bearing brick exterior wall allowed it to collapse, bringing down part of the steel framework that was part of the support.

Workers secure the area a day after an apartment building partially collapsed in Davenport, Monday, May 29, 2023.

Now, nearly two years after the collapse, according to a petition filed Thursday in Scott County, Wold is being accused of selling off his assets to prevent plaintiffs in lawsuits against him from collecting damages.

“After the west exterior wall of The Davenport collapsed on May 28, 2023, Andrew Wold knew without question that he and his companies would be subject to massive liabilities,” the petition states. “So, beginning a matter of days after the collapse, Wold and his companies initiated a scheme to sell off their real estate assets.”

Plaintiffs accuse Wold of selling his assets after lawsuits against him were filed

In the following months, residents of The Davenport filed at least seven lawsuits, most of whom lost all their possessions left in the building, against building owner Wold, various engineering contractors, the city and other defendants. The lawsuits were reported to be on hold “for a year or more” as appeals from the city were pending.

However, after the collapse and suits were filed against Wold, he allegedly began selling off his assets, including 22 buildings under his name and the alter-ego company Andrew Wold Investments LLC. Eighteen were sold under assessed value: The total amount received from these 18 buildings was $1,818,800 while the assessed value was $2,396,990. Four of the buildings were sold for assessed value or more.

Andrew Wold Investments owned 22 buildings at the time of collapse and two have not yet been sold, according to the petition.

The 20 buildings AWI owned returned $2,205,800, according to the suit. Several other companies were found to be run by Wold as well.

Companies found to be owned by Wold include The Dorothea LLC, 2200 11th, LLC, 246 W. 3rd Street Cooperative, 307 Harrison Street Cooperative, 1505 Jersey Ridge LLC and Harrison Street Cooperative.

Wold also transferred his home to the 3320 W. Harbor Revocable Trust, of which he is the only trustee, and sold it for $2,350,000 in December 2023.

In total, Wold and his companies were found to have already liquidated more than $5,100,000 from real estate assets and have had another $10,815,000 on the market, the petition alleges.

Because of the timing of the sales, plaintiffs allege it is a “calculated effort” to liquidate assets to prevent the plaintiffs from collecting.

The suit, which consolidates multiple plaintiffs and related cases, alleges that real estate transactions by Wold and AWI violate the Iowa Voidable Transactions Act, which allows a debtor’s transfers to be voided under certain circumstances.

The lawsuit alleges there is no evidence that Wold and AWI have sufficient assets to cover their liabilities: The collective value of the claims exceeds $100 million, due to the three deaths and extensive injuries of one resident, the petition states.

“As the owner and landlord of The Davenport who knew, beyond any reasonable dispute, that the west exterior wall was in an extraordinarily precarious condition and that its collapse was imminent, Andrew Wold and AWI are both target defendants and subject to a considerable allocation of fault,” the petition states.

Under the Iowa Voidable Transactions Act, plaintiffs must demonstrate that a transfer was made “without receiving a reasonably equivalent value in exchange” for it to be considered voidable.

Because 18 of 22 buildings sold were for under assessed value, they were not sold for a “reasonably equivalent value”, the petition states.

The petition seeks the appointment of a receiver, a third party assigned to manage and oversee property during legal proceedings and a constructive trust, which places property in a court-managed holding during the case.

Plaintiffs petitioning are asking for:

Wold and AWI to deposit all funds acquired through the sales of their real estate holdings in a restricted account or put into a constructive trust.
A receiver to be appointed to manage the restricted account or constructive trust.
Wold and AWI be prevented from transferring real estate or assets without the approval of the receiver and that the transfer be of a reasonable value.
All funds from future sales of real estate or assets by Wold or AWI be deposited into the restricted account or constructive trust.
Any company owned by Wold be unable to sell real estate or assets without court approval, in which plaintiffs will be able to file a resistance or restraining order or an injunction.