All Forum Posts by: Brett Henricks

As of the 3rd Webinar on May 28th, Brian still does not have the Books and Records or the Bank accounts. His guess during the 2nd Webinar (May 22nd) was he would have them by June 1st. During the 3rd Webinar his guess was that it may be June 8th. His promise was everyone would be informed immediately when this happens. We'll see.

1. From the first webinar that Brian had with Conerstone these properties were coming back to Versity. There are only 17 here so there is an 18th property out there. During the 3rd webinar on May 22nd there was a promise to reach out to the investors with the official list.
2. 4th & J     Oakbrook  Shadowglen  Inspire on 22nd    Astoria   Wolf Run   Campus Walk
3. Rockland  The Nine  Taylor Lofts   345 Flats   Buckingham   CP Cincy    Element
4. Tuscany Place   The Plaza   Darvy Row

These 5 properties stay with Crew. VIP notes (Versity Income Property) are unsecured notes that are now not paying distributions either.

1. The Walk   One on 4th   Hayworth  Vintage Horizon   Apex South Creek   VIP Notes

This week I received from Crew the Q1 2025 Report on my Wolf Run and Inspire on 22nd Properties. In a section labeled Looking Ahead was this statement from Crew. I know the investors in Astoria got the same update from Crew as well. Perhaps Crew is compitulating after all.

Moving forward, all asset management responsibilities—including quarterly reporting, delivery of tax documents,
oversight of property leasing, and financial performance—will be handled by Versity Investments. Crew Enterprises
will no longer have any involvement.
Brian Nelson, a principal at Versity Investments, will serve as the primary point of contact until further notice.

Brian was awarded 18 properties which are listed in this thread from a webinar a couple of weeks ago. That webinar was the first. May 22nd he had another and yesterday May 28th a 3rd. His message is basically the same. The arbitrator made the award, Crew is dragging their feet as long as they can. As of yesterday Brian still does not have the Books or the Bank Accounts. So, any speculations he made in these 3 webinars are, for now, just guesses on his part.

To Jane A.'s point the most important thing is that the assets are kept in good shape and good standing. We are aware of some that are not. The Nine in memphis is one that was addressed in yesterday's webinar.

Also to Jane A.'s point is that other Sponsors have had to halt distributions due to market conditions or the failure of the business plan in someway. What sets Versity/Crew apart is that it's not just a property in their portfolio that the distributions were halted. It's the entire portfolio. Including investments that they control that are not DST's. It's hard to imagine that all these properties in geographically diverse areas fell apart at exactly the same time. It would be naive to think that something else is not up. All the optimism in the world from Brian may not be able to make the investors whole.

Someone help us out. How do we get in Contact with Linda Kline the FBI investigator?

Thank you for posting the link to the May 28th Webinar with Brian Nelson apparently with 1031 Crowdfunding. 

On May 22nd a Webinar with Brian Nelson was sponsored by IREXA Financial Services. 

During the Webinar Brian explained the convoluted history of name changes, NB Private Capital became Versity became Versity Invest became Crew.

Brian explained the convoluted legal mess that is still in arbitration. Brian has supposedly been awarded most of the properties but not all. See the summary in this post from a previous webinar for which ones. The principal's of Crew don't accept the arbitrators decision.

As a result Brian doesn't have the Books and Records or bank accounts. As a result Brian doesn't know why your distributions were stopped. He guesses "unusual" expenses that will go away if he is ever back in charge. He expects that to be the end of May.

Brian guesses some properties could resume distributions as soon as June 15th. Brian guesses that some properties will have distributions as high as 4 to 5% by July or August.

Brian doesn't know if he will continue to use the current property management. Book and Ladder was not mentioned specifically by name. From a previous Webinar we know that Brian is an owner of Book and Ladder. Property management will be a property by property decision.

Anyone who attended this Webinar please feel free to add additional take aways.

Steven, what property did you invest in 7 years ago? Feedback from the last investor who went to their office was they are on the 4th floor. The elevator won't go there and if you take the stairs the door is locked and no one will answer if you knock. 

In the webinar summary, it states that the Avalon and Sawmill properties were sold. I'd be super interested if anyone knows how those sales went. Were the investors made whole? So far I have not heard of a sale that did. Were any missed distributions also paid. If you remember this was a Versity/Crew "promise" at one point. 

Last Friday a webinar was held that featured Brian Nelson here is a summary prepared by one who was able to attend:

Summary of Cornerstone Webinar with Brian Nelson on May 2, 2025

Webinar Panel Participants:

John Harvey, Cornerstone President

Trawn Gall, Cornerstone Vice President

Peter Roberts, Cornerstone

David Kangas, Cornerstone

Brian Nelson, Versity Investments

Comments by David Kangas and John Harvey:

• Recording the webinar was done for compliance and will not be released.
• There will be follow on webinars for each property.
• Cornerstone brokered these deals because the properties are best in class in great locations.
• Cornerstone has been active and interactive for the past year to year and a half. Cornerstone has not been able to communicate because of NDA’s and various other reasons. This is the first time that Cornerstone is able and free to talk.
• An unusual and unanticipated risk was created by a rogue principal (not Brian Nelson), possibly caused by mental illness, narcissism and/or dementia.
• Issues came to light when distributions were halted and a mezzanine lender filed a lawsuit in New York that accuses the principal of fraud and unjust enrichment.
• There are no debt service issues and no risk of loss via foreclosure for the various properties, but is concerned about property related expenses and what is happening to excess cash flow?
• Recent arbitration hearings gave full control of Versity Investments to Brian Nelson who is 65% owner.
• Brian Nelson is standing up for justice; Brian is the Lone Ranger and Cornerstone is the Tonto.

The Versity Investments portfolio that Brian Nelson has been granted control of is as follows:

1. 4th & J
2. Oakbrook
3. Shadowglen
4. Inspire on 22nd
5. Astoria
6. Wolf Run
7. Campus Walk
8. Rockland
9. The Nine
10. Taylor Lofts
11. 345 Flats
12. Buckingham
13. CP Cincy
14. Element
15. Tuscany Place
16. The Plaza
17. Darvy Row

The Avalon and Sawmill properties have been sold.

Comments by Brian Nelson:

• There have been two recent arbitration hearings with the third, and hopefully the final one next week.
• Brian Nelson is proposing to work with a well capitalized and experienced multi family sponsor; four firms are under review. The goal is to restore cash flow and prepare properties for sale or UPREIT as the market allows.
• The process can’t transition too quickly as capital preservation needs to be considered. Brian Nelson likens the process to being in the 7-8th inning of a baseball game, again hoping for finalization of the arbitration next week.
• Brian Nelson expects full communication within 2-5 weeks, depending on Crew cooperation. Brian is hoping to get full cooperation.
• Brian Nelson said “I think most of the portfolio is doing pretty well. The fundamentals of the real estate are fantastic”. Brian intends to “over communicate” within 30 days and doesn’t want investors to feel isolated or hopeless.

Timeline provided by Brian Nelson:

• Nelson Brothers (Brian & Pat) was started in 2007 and split in 2018. Pat wanted to pursue glitzy development while Brian wanted to continue with student housing formula. The separation had a few glitches.
• NBPC (Nelson Brothers Private Capital), then Versity Investments (Versity 1) were created to move forward with the Brian Nelson vision.
• Versity Invest (Versity 2) was created (behind Brian Nelson’s back) in 2022 by Blake Wettengel and Tanya Muro. Brian Nelson believes these Versity Investment executives created Versity Invest in order to usurp control from Brian. Blake & Tanya wanted success for themselves.
• This was a confusing and difficult time for Brian Nelson. Brian hired an auditing firm to follow cash flow, then filed a lawsuit in 2022.
• Lawsuit was settled in late 2023 with a “contract”. Crew was supposed to be getting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from a federal COVID recovery program called ESG (Emergency Solutions Grant). Brian Nelson backed down, waiting for these ESG funds to flow, and was lacking funds to fight Crew. The ESG funds never arrived.
• April 2024 Brian Nelson filed for arbitration. Nothing happened until November 2024 when the arbitration judge determined that that the “contract” was valid.
• March 2025 the second arbitration hearing awarded managerial control to Brian Nelson. Brian believed that the Versity Invest plan was to stuff all the debt into Versity Investments, move all the assets into Versity Invest, then bankrupt Versity Investments. Brian thought this plan was intended to create a clean Versity Invest firm that could UPREIT.

Ownership per Brian Nelson:

• Versity Investments: Brian Nelson 65%, others 35%
• Book & Ladder (Property Management firm): Brian Nelson 1/3 interest, Blake Wettengel 1/3 interest and Tanya Muro 1/3 interest
• Versity Invest: Blake Wettengel 50% and Tanya Muro 50% (Brian Nelson speculation: other executives may have been given a minority position). Brian will NOT get control of these properties and notes under this arbitration order. Cornerstone would like to have a webinar with Versity Invest but can’t assure that that will take place. The five property deals and VIP (Versity Income Property) Notes that were done under Versity Invest after April, 2022 are as follows:
• The Walk
• One on 4th
• Hayworth
• Vintage Horizon
• Apex South Creek
• VIP Notes

Control awarded last week: Brian Nelson will control Master Tenant, Sponsor, and Trustee. Brian wants investor database and bank accounts. Judge has ordered five times for Crew to provide to Brian but is being stonewalled. Binding arbitration has no appeal process. Judges orders are final. Arbitration hearing next week is expected to award damages and finalize the process.

Brian Nelson Forward Focus:

• Transition back to management style as it was in 2021 and early 2022. The philosophy of cutting distributions is bad and wants to get them restored ASAP.
• Brian Nelson has been talking with investors for the past two years and understands their concerns.
• Brian is hoping to be able to issue managerial changes notification today or Monday. Brian is hoping Crew will cooperate and transition can happen with 2 to 3 weeks, otherwise stonewalling and lack of cooperation could extend the process to 5 weeks.
• Brian is in talks with four potential sponsor partners and is hoping to corral everything under his umbrella (Versity Investments and Versity Invest).
• All properties need to be assessed to determine needs; hopes to complete within 60 days. Some properties are expected to get full distributions restored quickly. 4th & J is a home run property that Brian looked at earlier this week and said it looks great. Brian also looked at Element and implied it will need some work to restore to the proper condition.
• Next four months is critical for student housing; funds need to be used to provide for immediate needs.
• Focus will be task at hand. Brian expects justice will come later.
• Per arbitration order, Crew is not allowed to communicate with investors.
• Future property visits with Brian can be arranged with your Cornerstone executive.

Notes from Trawn Gall:

• Focus needs to be on a new sponsorship partner.
• Transparent and complete reporting to investors – This may take 1 to 3 months to complete the process.
• Determine individual market factors for each property.
• Per PPM, distributions are not guaranteed. Trawn believed that the Crew reports that deferred distributions will accrue at 2% was a mistake.
• Wants to be sure that all monies that belong to the trust go to the trust.
• Wants to know how much rent was due the trust, how much rent was paid to the trust, and how much rent was deferred to the trust?
• Evidence exists that the proper amount of rent may not have been paid from the Master Tenant to the Trust.
• Reporting and transparency is needed

Jason Kjellson was briefly mentioned a couple of times during the discussion. It is unknown if he will stay with Crew or transition with Brian Nelson to Versity Investments. There wasn’t any discussion about any other Crew employees.

I heard from a Versity/Crew investor who had their distributions suspended at Rockland in Lawrence, Kansas. So, we can add that one to the known Versity/Crew properties that had their distributions suspended as well.

Astoria- Celebration FL Apex- Orlando FL Hayworth Tanglewood- Houston TX

Inspire on 22nd- Austin TX CP Cincy- Cinn. OH Oakbrook- Baton Rouge, LA

Shadow Glen- Manor TX The Element- Sacramento CA The Walk- Tuscaloosa AL

Wolf Run- Reno NV Vintage Horizon West- Winter Garden FL AW Newport- Tempe AZ

4 & J- San Diego CA The Buckingham- Chicago IL