Zora, the shuttered rooftop bar that occupies a prime corner at the intersection of Ingersoll Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy. in Des Moines, is facing foreclosure after owner Edwin Allen III’s lender filed in court to collect on a more than $3 million mortgage.
Zora Bar & Rooftop opened in 2021, the product of a $5 million construction project, with features including a two-level rooftop bar with a view of the downtown Des Moines skyline, an indoor-outdoor bar on the ground floor, a $15,000 custom chandelier and a $35,000 griddle stovetop in the kitchen.
But it quickly became a frequent source of police calls, including for a November 2022 shooting death in its parking lot. In July 2023, the city filed a nuisance lawsuit against the business and Allen, who was facing personal legal troubles on several fronts.
Allen subsequently filed a $10 million countersuit against the city, accusing officials of forcing the bar to limit its hours, leading to its closure last summer and damaging its business prospects without due process. Allen also put the bar up for sale, asking for $4 million ― more than double the appraised value.
Now his lender has come to collect. According to its May 7 filing, Community 1st Credit Union holds a mortgage on the property that is now in default, including $3 million in unpaid principal and $206,000 in accrued interest. The bank is filing for a foreclosure without redemption, meaning the property can be sold promptly after a court judgment.
Several years of legal tumult for Zora, Allen
The foreclosure filing is the latest in a long string of financial and legal setbacks for Allen, who also is a landlord with several local residential properties. Other lenders have in recent months filed foreclosures against at least five residential and commercial properties Allen owns, including apartment buildings at 1721 Pleasant St. and 3612 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines.
In addition, Allen faces several pending lawsuits, including one by a former Zora server who alleged Allen and didn’t want Black servers or patrons at the establishment and another by a former apartment tenant who accused him of trying to evict her when she refused to have sex with him.
He also sued Waukee in 2023, alleging a code compliance officer for the city had been stalking him. It was subsequently dismissed by the court.
In several of his cases, Allen, who has often represented himself, has been sanctioned for failing to follow court orders or respond to discovery requests.
He also has faced criminal charges for assisting another controversial Des Moines metro restauranteur, Steve McFadden, in stalking a romantic partner. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and received a suspended sentence and probation; the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed that sentence because, in its view, the district court improperly took into account racist comments Allen allegedly made in the courtroom. He is now appealing again to challenge the court’s refusal to cancel a no-contact order from that case.
Allen does not have an attorney listed in the latest foreclosure and did not respond to a message seeking comment. Attorneys for Community 1st also did not respond to messages.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines bar Zora hit with foreclosure after years of legal setbacks
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