As of 3:20 on Thursday afternoon, a day after ordering the hotel closed, and despite requests from hotel management, the City Fire Officials have not yet notified the Brunswick concerning the nature of the violation that caused the City to close down the hotel without prior notice.
An interviewer noted that Hamid Zagredi, managing partner, appeared to be distraught and overwhelmed with a sense of powerlessness. An Iranian “outsider,” he invested years of his life and millions of dollars to acquire and refurbish the hotel. A sudden action by the City without prior notice has shattered all that he strove to achieve.
Zagredi finds himself a stranger without friends, business allies, political influence, and even a local lawyer.
I heard they’re right in the middle of installing a new fire alarm system. What was very unusual to me was that the mayor was involved in this. Normally code enforcement happens without the mayor in the loop.