'We're just being priced out.' How a millionaire changed a neighborhood

Covington is known for its walkable neighborhoods with residential buildings mixed among restaurants, bars and shops.

That has been particularly true of a block along Greenup Street where a bookstore and cafe, bagel shop and other restaurants helped create a small but tightknit community for nearby residents.

That was until earlier this year.

Now, the building where Lil's Bagels once had a line spilling onto the sidewalk on weekends sits empty. So does an apartment building across the street, previously home to about two dozen people who frequented the nearby shops and riverfront.

Just one block away from the city's central business district, residents and businesses on or near Greenup Street are grappling with increased rents or displacement that are changing the area.

Nationally, rent is increasing in retail sectors of commercial realty and vacancy rates are low, according to a 2023 report from the National Association of Relators. Residential rents across the country have increased at record rates from 2019-2022, according to a June report from Rent.com.

But along that block of Greenup Street, the kicker for people most affected by the change is that several of the properties are owned by an heir of E.W. Scripps – a philanthropist who owns more than $10 million worth of properties in Ohio and Kentucky, according to public records. Estimates from real estate sites, like Zillow, show the properties could be sold for much more money.

The locals aren't necessarily angry about the rising rents, but they are left wondering why a multimillionaire who has donated so much to good causes in the Greater Cincinnati area would so drastically jack up rents for locals.

What’s happening on Greenup Street?

Marilyn Scripps is the owner of six limited liability corporations – known as LLCs – through which she owns property and buildings near Greenup and Third streets in Covington.

Four of those properties are or were home to local businesses – Blinkers Tavern, Smoke Justis restaurant, Roebling Books & Coffee, the former Lil's Bagels. She also owns apartment buildings called The Woodford and 318 Greenup Street apartments, along with a parking lot.

Rent increases or renovations, especially in the past year, have pushed about two dozen renters from apartments at The Woodford and caused Lil’s to close.

It's also put the future of the popular Roebling Books & Coffee in question and made nearby renters fearful more rent hikes are coming their way.

Marilyn Scripps has owned all or part of the properties for at least five years, public records show.

Elaine McGue, a local artist and former resident at The Woodford, says she and fellow residents lived with uncertainty for the past year. During that time, they heard rumors of coming renovations and nonrenewable leases. They were kicked out by this spring.

With renovations underway, made possible in part by state and federal tax credits, McGue predicts higher rents for new tenants will follow.

" ... It's going to change the whole, in my opinion, the whole vibe of the area," she said. "I don't think this community is going to be able to keep … the creative people in it because we're just being priced out."

The Enquirer reached out to Marilyn Scripps through Miramar Services Inc., which some of the Scripps family relies on to “handle a variety of affairs." That includes help with real estate business, said Tim King, a consultant for Miramar.

She twice declined to be interviewed and King spoke on her behalf via email.

"We’re not going to comment publicly about private business matters," he said.

Click through the gallery below to see what people had to say about their experiences as tenants in buildings owned by Marilyn Scripps. 

Do the rents have to go up on Greenup Street?

Opinions about rising rents on Greenup vary by who you ask.

Real estate experts say the neighborhood changes are an inevitable result of a hot real estate market in Covington. Others say greed or a disregard for the community is the problem.

Greg Crase, president of the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors, noted the median sales price of homes in Covington has nearly tripled over the past 10 years – from $78,500 to $224,500.

"In my opinion, the biggest factor is supply and demand," Crase said.

That demand is causing higher rents in an area that already is short housing units.

The overall Greater Cincinnati area needs 7,500 new apartments over the next three years to meet demand, said Pat Crowley, vice president of governmental affairs for the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association. According to the Apartment List National Rent Report, the Greater Cincinnati area had 955,626 housing units in 2020.

But do property owners or managers have to raise rent? Crase said no, but not doing so could be risky.

"You kind of have to make the money while you can," he said of property owners, citing the cost of repairs to buildings, vacant properties, inflation and emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Danny Lipson, chief development officer of local development company Urban Sites, said residents at The Woodford were displaced so renovations could take place – not because anyone is trying to kick out locals.

The company is the developing partner and property and construction manager at the apartment building.

"We are performing a gut rehab, replacing major building systems including all plumbing, electric and HVAC. The property was in major need of repairs," Lipson said.

New rent prices won't be decided until closer to the renovation’s completion, he said.

Matt Craig, a former resident of The Woodford apartments, chalked up rent increases to greed and is concerned about the impact wealthy owners have on communities. He was paying $950 a month for his small one-bedroom unit.

Like his former neighbor Elaine McGue, Craig thinks rents will be higher there when new tenants move in. He questions whether a few extra hundred dollars per unit is worth more than community.

"Why is that more important when you're doing just fine [financially], right? There are people that are really going to struggle from that. … those are people's lives that are drastically impacted by your greed," he said.

Who is Marilyn Scripps?

Marilyn Scripps is a great-granddaughter of E.W. Scripps, whose lineage is one of the wealthiest in the country. She is one of more than 50 relatives who, combined, own 10% of the E.W. Scripps Company, which is worth about $800 million.

According to Forbes magazine, the overall Scripps family was worth was over $8.4 billion in 2020, making it the 43rd richest family in the United States. That’s tied with the Rockefellers, also at No. 43.

Scripps has had her hand in realty on both sides of the Ohio River for over a decade.

In Kentucky, she owns seven LLCs on or near Greenup Street and at least five other properties in Kenton County, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State website.

In the Cincinnati area, she owns about 30 properties, according to Hamilton County public records.

That includes a $4.2 million mixed-use project in Over-the-Rhine where five buildings on Walnut, East 14th and Clay streets will create about two dozen residential units and three commercial storefronts, according to developer Urban Sites.

Collectively, the properties are worth over $10 million, according to Kenton and Hamilton county auditors' sites.

Her divorce filing from 2019 gives more clues about her wealth.

She kept over half a million dollars worth of luxury cars in the divorce, along with almost a half-million dollar home in Maineville, Ohio.

Scripps will also pay her ex-husband Martin Wade $10 million in spousal support over a ten-year period, along with a $1 million outright payment about four years ago.

She owns about a dozen other LLCs or businesses, including Rookwood Pottery, a nationally revered company that's been known for its high quality ceramics since the late 1800s.

While the company was once moved to Mississippi, it came back to Cincinnati in 2006. Scripps and Wade increased their stakes at the company and were briefly involved in some legal trouble with others at Rookwood, according to previous reporting by The Enquirer.

The ceramics company is still popular with a flagship store in Over-the-Rhine where it teaches candle making classes and offers public tours every Saturday.

The Scripps legacy in Cincinnati

The Scripps family built its wealth with media enterprises and now focuses on national broadcast journalism in dozens of markets from its headquarters in the Scripps Center tower in downtown Cincinnati, just across the Ohio River from Covington.

The Scripps Howard Foundation and the Scripps Howard Fund last year gave a combined $8.1 million to journalistic endeavors, child literacy efforts, disaster relief and local community needs, according to a joint news release from the companies.

They also promote literary through the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, a nationally televised event that started more than 90 years ago and reaches about 11 million students a year, according to its website.

Marilyn Scripps and her ex-husband Martin Wade personally donated $1 million to the gerontology center at Miami University in 2013, according to the university.

Who are the other players involved in this?

There are a few entities and people connected with Marilyn Scripps or her LLCs:

• Miramar Services, Inc. is the registered agent for Scripps-affiliated LLCs, meaning they file paperwork with the state on behalf of the businesses. The company also handles other issues for at least some of the family.

• Eaton and Wesley Scripps are loosely connected with the LLCs making waves. They're Marilyn's brother and cousin once removed, respectively. Easton Scripps is the chairman and one of the directors of Miramar and Wesley Scripps is a director, according to the Kentucky secretary of state's website.

• In addition to the three Scripps members, there are six other directors of Miramar. Three of them own stock in E.W. Scripps Co., according to the Wallmine website, but it’s unclear how they’re affiliated with the family.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Scripps family member displaces Covington residents