In the twenty-four hours following publication of the account of a federal lawsuit relating to the proposed sale of the former campus of Judson College in the Times-Standard-Herald’s April 17 print edition, a series of announcements has been issued by the Judson College Foundation, the City of Marion, and the Perry County Commission, none of which acknowledges the federal litigation described in this story.
At 7:35 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, the Judson College Foundation issued an email to alumnae announcing that the former Judson College campus has been sold to Monarch Property Management, LLC. The email, signed by Foundation board members Doug Halbrooks, Daphne R. Robinson, and Sulynn Creswell, did not state the closing date, the sale price, the identity of the buyer’s principals, or any terms of the transaction. The email did not reference the federal litigation naming Monarch and its members as defendants. As of 5 p.m. Friday, April 17, no deed transferring the campus to Monarch Property Management, LLC or to any related entity had been recorded in Perry County Probate records.
Monarch Property Management, LLC is the renamed Judson College Properties, LLC, the entity whose members — Wayne D. Williams, Donna Williams, Liberty Smith Duke, and James J. Chao — are named as defendants in Eddie Patent Holdings LLC et al. v. Callan JMB Inc. et al., Case No. 3:26-cv-00885-X, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
On the morning of Friday, April 17, an announcement attributed to Mayor Dexter Hinton and the City of Marion was circulated through the Judson College Alumnae Association, disclosing a “soft opening and kickoff presentation” of a development described as “The Atlas Complex” at the former campus, scheduled for Monday, April 20, at noon. The Times-Standard-Herald was not included in the City’s distribution of that announcement.
At approximately 3 p.m. Friday, the City of Marion published the same announcement on its official Facebook page, accompanied by a promotional graphic displaying the Atlas Complex logo with the tagline “By Callan JMB.”. A subsequent post on the City of Marion’s official Facebook page linked to a promotional video titled “Visionaries and Pioneers. The Callan JMB Origin Story,” hosted on Callan JMB’s YouTube channel, with text inviting the public to attend the Monday event.
Separately on Friday afternoon, a press release jointly attributed to Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner, Jr. was circulated on social media, announcing the same event. The joint release described the Atlas Complex as “a strategic investment in the future of Marion.” The release, marked “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,” contained a transcription error in the event address, referring to the location as “302 B, Up Street, Marion, AL formerly Judson College.”
Collectively, the Judson College Foundation, the City of Marion, Mayor Hinton individually, and Perry County Commission Chairman Turner have issued communications concerning this project within approximately thirty-six hours of the Times-Standard-Herald’s April 17 print edition. None of those communications has acknowledged the federal litigation.
The Times-Standard-Herald sent written requests for comment on Friday afternoon to the Judson College Foundation, to Monarch Property Management, LLC through Liberty Duke as its registered agent of record with the Alabama Secretary of State, to Mayor Hinton and the City of Marion, and to the Alabama Department of Commerce. The requests included specific questions concerning the announced sale, the legal relationship between Monarch and the Atlas Complex, the identity of the project’s principals, the status of the Project Summit Agreement between the Department of Commerce and Coldchain Technology Services, LLC, and the status of the tax abatements previously approved by the Marion City Council and the Perry County Commission for Judson College Properties, LLC, now Monarch Property Management, LLC. A noon Monday, April 20, deadline was provided. No responses had been received as of publication. If any of the parties responds, the Times-Standard-Herald will update this story or publish a follow-up.
The Alabama Department of Commerce has not responded to multiple prior inquiries from the Times-Standard-Herald regarding the Project Summit Agreement, including inquiries preceding Friday’s request.
The account of the federal lawsuit that was published in the Times-Standard-Herald’s April 17 print edition remained accurate as written as of that date. The developments described above have occurred since publication.
