It’s true that the Meridian parking lot was where police found the getaway car used in a Feb. 21, 2013, shootout on the Strip. Self-styled pimp Ammar Harris was accused of gunning down alleged rival Kenneth Cherry, following an argument between the two in Aria’s valet-parking area. "After Cherry was shot and killed, his car crashed into multiple vehicles, including a taxi that exploded on impact at Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The taxi driver and a passenger in the taxi were killed," reported the Las Vegas Sun. Three more people were injured in the ensuing, multi-car pileup. (Harris was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. His trial is set for Sept. 8. In an unrelated case, he was found guilty of rape and robbery last September.)
To recap the Meridian saga in brief, its condos were pitched as investment vehicles, the idea being that absentee owners would sublet them, thereby recovering their capital. (Only 14 Meridian units were sold to owner-occupiers.) "Time would prove that selling the bulk of a condo development to absentee owners on the eve of a real estate collapse is not a great recipe for community stability," Bloomberg News noted dryly. Nearly 500 of the units were foreclosed upon or went into short sales.
Owners American Invsco tried running Meridian as a hotel and "the Meridian was soon teeming with the typical stew of Las Vegas tourists: Midwestern businessmen playing hooky from conventions, European vacationers nursing hangovers by the pool, young men on bachelor party binges." However, American Invsco was doing this on the sly, having failed to file the needed paperwork with Clark County. This – and the stream of foreclosures – sparked off long-running litigation.
Meanwhile, Meridian tries to conduct business as usual. In January 2011, the Nevada State Contractors Board reopened an investigation of the property, after residents uncovered evidence of unlicensed contractors working on site. Meridian had hired contractor Koval-Flamingo to "complete" work on the property but had failed to file the requisite building permits. Still, despite what were described as "widespread building-code violations," the Clark County District Attorney’s office had declined to prosecute American Invsco.
A civil suit gathered dust before the bench of U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson, who would neither dismiss it nor allow the discovery phase to begin. At the present time, the Meridian’s legal troubles continue to float in legal limbo. Insurgent unit owners also filed a construction-defect lawsuit against co-developer Koval-Flamingo. But aside from the Ammar Harris nastiness, Meridian has been out of the headlines literally for years.
One condo owner, Amy Taddeo, has promised to "spend 28 hours of every 24-hour day figuring out how to get back at you -- American Invsco or whoever -- for taking my retirement money." Sadly, it would appear that she’s in for a lot of 28-hour days.
