“Compelling equity investment opportunity”
ELIZABETH NELSON
Welcome to Episode 11 of Hollow Hype. In Episode 10, very few people saw the Michigan Daily article that exposed Heidi’s criminal record. Local media outlets ignored the story. Heidi was an inconvenient example of how easily someone with money could influence city government in Ann Arbor.
In 2023, Ann Arbor City Council rezoned an entire block for Heidi and Marge to redevelop. The project called Southtown would be sustainable, all-electric. A year later, in 2024, Heidi and Marge came up with something new– they persuaded the City to approve a plan that would rely on gas, with a microgrid and fuel cells.
In 2025, Southtown’s architect, Lisa Sauve, told MLive that she was no longer working on the development because she hadn’t been paid. Southtown needed a new architect and yet another plan.
In April 2026, Heidi and a new development team went to the city planning commission to present a third plan for Southtown. The shape and footprint of the building was changed and it included more residential units– 289, instead of 216. First floor commercial space was eliminated.
[2026 recorded meeting]
JASON VAN RYN:
All right. Good evening. My name is Jason Van Ryn for Nederveld. We are the civil engineers, planners, surveyors for this project.
Over the past six months, we've been working closely with the city staff and other various departments to refine and revamp the site plan into something that we believe is more viable and better positioned for success in today's market.
I'd like to turn the remaining time over to Heidi Poscher with 4M Real Estate Development, the owner and developer of the project. Heidi will walk you through some key updates that we've made to the plan since the previous approval.
HEIDI POSCHER:
We found that the original site plan had a couple of issues. One was it just wasn't penciling very well. It was a beautiful building, but just in terms of once we got into the pragmatics of costing there were a number of issues that were going to be difficult.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Local radio station WEMU reported
[2026 radio broadcast]
KEVIN MEERSCHAERT:
4M’s Heidi Poscher says the project includes improved sustainability features
HEIDI POSCHER:
Not only just in terms of the equipment that’s used but just philosophically, how the HVAC components of the building are marrying up with the microgrid in terms of its energy production
[MUSIC]
ELIZABETH NELSON:
My name is Elizabeth Nelson. From 2018 to 2022, I served on Ann Arbor City Council. That experience taught me a lot. Mostly, I learned: people will say just about anything if they think you’ll believe it. This is HOLLOW HYPE.
Southtown struggled in the months leading up to that April 2026 meeting of the Planning commission.
In September 2025, Southtown desperately needed money. Stevenson Capital produced a 27 page prospectus describing the project to potential investors. The prospectus outlined how Southtown could make use of a $44 million bridge loan. It offered $20 million in Class A investor equity.
Heidi does not appear anywhere in the Stevenson document, not as a partner and not as a co-owner.Marge is presented as the sole owner, whose leadership had been key to assembling parcels, securing city approvals, and fostering consensus among architects, contractors, and officials.
Marge’s resume of past experience was five infill projects in San Francisco twenty years earlier.
Stevenson painted a glossy picture of Southtown’s future revenue. It described Southtown as a compelling equity investment opportunity. For just $20 million.
[MUSIC]
RALPH MCKEE:
I came here in 1971 to go to college at U of M. I went to school for a couple years. I dropped out and did, you know, typical young person jobs and played music for several years. I worked at the University Cellar for a few years, which is the U of M bookstore in the 70s.
Then I finished my undergrad and went to law school when I was 30. Then I practiced law for maybe close to 30 years? Mostly bankruptcy and related litigation matters and some property tax appeals where you're looking at valuing real estate of apartment buildings, office buildings and the like, shopping centers. And then I retired.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
That’s my friend Ralph.
Ralph has seen the Stevenson prospectus.
RALPH MCKEE:
It has a pro forma, a budget essentially, what would the income and expenses of this project be once it was built. And it also has what the rough cost estimates would be to complete the project.
Normally you get a projection of what the rental income will be for each type of unit. And those numbers are crunched out, so many units at so much a month, here's the yearly rent for that space. So that gives you your gross rental income. Then you get an expense percentage, typically. There's often a vacancy rate applied, typically 5 to 7 percent to allow for when people aren't actually in the space, turnover and so on. And you come up with what's called NOI, Net Operating Income, and that number is then used to calculate what a buyer will pay for that income stream. And that’s done by applying a capitalization rate.
ELIZABETH NELSON
The projected rents for Southtown are easy to calculate.
RALPH MCKEE:
There are six types of units in their analysis. The two bedroom units are being assumed to produce a rental value of 5,000 a month. And in 2032, a few years out, almost 6,000 dollars a month. The studio apartments are being shown as initially generating 3,000 a month and then 3,300 a month. The two bedroom short-term rental units are shown as being producing more than 8,000 a month. The numbers are very, very high, and I'm not a real estate maven. I haven't been doing tax appeals in this city for quite some time, but I would have to think that most landlords and realtors in the city would not view those numbers as anywhere near realistic.
Now, this was a marketing brochure, trying to attract investors, and it's common in that context to see, in my work in the turnaround world, you used to call them puff pieces or come-ons or however you want to describe it. And investors, people who have 50 million dollars to invest, they usually do their own due diligence. And they're not going to take those kind of figures at face value.
[MUSIC]
ANN ARBAUGH:
I moved to Ann Arbor 14 years ago, and then started in real estate about a year after that. Ann Arbor is mostly my base. I still go outside into Washtenaw County, Livingston County to sell houses, but my expertise is on residential: homes, condos. I don't necessarily do apartments that often. When I do, it's when clients need a, you know, halfway till you know their house is built, or coming in and want to rent until they find something. So I do have a little bit of expertise in knowing what the going rates are for apartments in Ann Arbor.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
That’s my friend Ann.
ANN ARBAUGH:
I live close to Venue. So we did go there to eat a lot. I played trivia there a lot. I've been to events there. Definitely she and Marge were kind of a fixture at that bar on most nights. At the corner of the bar sitting there.
They had you know jazz brunches on Sundays. It just never seems like the parking lot's ever full. Only time I can see when the restaurant’s full is when they're having some sort of event there
It hasn't blossomed into what I think they thought it was going to be. I don't think there's many people that go there to work during the day. it's echoey. It's loud. I can't imagine being able to be on my computer there and feel like I'm getting something done.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Ann knows the real estate market in Ann Arbor, including the block of Southtown.
ANN ARBAUGH:
It's kind of a funky location because it's on a corner right next to the railroad track right across from Salvation Army, which is not the most attractive building. It's a good location to get you to - if you're a student athlete - to some of these areas like the Stadium and the Crysler Arena. And then the practice fields down on State. But from my experience the kids don't really want to go that far. They like to be closer to the actual campus, they like to be closer to South U.
There is restaurants and coffee shops and stuff like that around there, so you've got the walkability. And it is on a main bus line so that's all advantageous. It's just kind of, it's always felt kind of more like industrial over there
ELIZABETH NELSON:
I showed Anne the numbers in the Stevenson prospectus
ANN ARBAUGH:
I kind of looked at some other apartments close by that are brand new. Packard Row, the George, just to look at what those you know going rents were. and they're nowhere near what the Stevenson numbers are. It's just not reality, especially for that being that far away from the center of campus and center of downtown
Packard Row I just had a client move in there and that is for one bedroom. $2,700 a month. and that's brand new, you know yoga store, you know on the bottom level coffee shop, Fraser's pub. It's right in the same vicinity. so to think a studio would go for you know that much more just doesn't seem plausible to me
[MUSIC]
ELIZABETH NELSON:
The Stevenson prospectus is dated September 14th. On October 10, Marge was found dead. She left suicide notes explaining that “there really was no other solution.” The notes listed millions of dollars in life insurance proceeds that would pay out to Heidi. Marge described how those proceeds could be used to pay off debt.
Ten days after Marge’s death, Heidi filed documents in probate court, identifying herself as the surviving spouse. In her “testimony to identify heirs”, Heidi indicated that Marge had no children and no surviving parents. Marge’s brother, Henry, appears on this form under siblings, but he is listed as “address unknown.” Heidi was the only heir. The probate court appointed Heidi as personal representative for Marge’s estate.
Heidi controlled the estate she was due to inherit, including Southtown.
In January 2026, the Southtown LLC filed for bankruptcy, under the direction of Heidi.
RALPH MCKEE:
It was filed to stop the foreclosure. That's typical of a single-asset real estate kind of bankruptcy. The lender and the debtor can't agree on a path forward and so the debtor files in order to try to propose some realistic alternative to a foreclosure.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
The situation was explained to a judge in bankruptcy court.
[2026 court recording]
LAWYER:
Margaret unfortunately passed away very suddenly in October of 2025 and a probate estate has been opened on her behalf. Ms. Poscher's wife, Heidi Posher, has been named as the personal representative of Margaret Poscher's estate. And therefore is acting on behalf of the sole member of the debtor in this bankruptcy case.
JUDGE:
Let me stop you for one minute. The probate estate is open in the Washtenaw County Probate Court?
LAWYER:
Yes.
JUDGE:
Okay. And letters of authority have been issued to Ms. Heidi Poscher?
LAWYER:
Yes.
JUDGE:
Okay So she's authorized to act on behalf of the estate of Margaret Poscher, correct?
LAWYER:
And she, by virtue of that, had succeeded to act on behalf of the sole member of the debtor.
JUDGE:
So you're saying that- I'm going to use first names here just because it's a little quicker. You're saying that Heidi is authorized to act on behalf of Margaret's estate and that includes as the sole member of the debtor LLC, right?
LAWYER
Correct.
RALPH MCKEE:
Heidi is in control of almost all of the relevant entities who aren't bringing new money to this.
Heidi is the primary, if not the only beneficiary in the probate estate, right? That's what I've been told. So she's in full control of the probate estate proceedings and her lawyer is directing those proceedings. In the bankruptcy case she's the principal for Southtown
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Heidi took full control of Marge’s business interests, with one exception. The liquor license at Venue was not transferred to Heidi– in the state of Michigan, every applicant, stockholder, member, or limited partner connected to a liquor license is asked to disclose their full criminal history. The liquor license at Venue was assigned to the restaurant’s chef.
The bankruptcy documents include an appraisal from Colliers that Southtown is worth $61 million, as is, without anything built on it.
ANN ARBAUGH:
The buildings that have sold like the 611 building were done, they were completed. And that sold for what 70, 76 million or something. So I can't.. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. It seems like a lot of puff.
And I get that, you know all the plans that have gone into it, ripping down all the houses, combining all those lots into one, all the architectural and all that kind of stuff, that obviously has value. But when I heard the number of 60 million, I just thought there's… it's not… it's not possible. It's just a piece of land right now. It's not, it's not built. It's just a dream as of right now.
RALPH MCKEE:
Without seeing the Collier's appraisal, It's hard to understand where the numbers are actually coming from.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Southtown will occupy the entire block bounded by Stimson, State, White and Henry streets. This was previously ten individual parcels. Over several years, Heidi and Marge bought each of them.
In the bankruptcy documents, Heidi reports her “acquisition costs” for the land at Southtown: $19 million. She claims an additional $5 million in closing and legal fees.
In May 2023, architect Lisa Sauve described the Southtown properties to the Ann Arbor Zoning Board of Appeals:
[2023 meeting recording]
LISA SAUVE:
Many of these Parcels are really old buildings to the point that the owners have just recently taken ownership of them they have not been well maintained and so the tax burden the insurance and the maintenance of them don't make them feasible to continue on and so that's part of the redevelopment.
[MUSIC]
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Heidi and Marge did not spend $19 million on the ten properties at Southtown. That number would not make sense for old buildings in poor repair in a funky part of town.
According to public records, Heidi and Marge bought all ten of the properties on that block for just over $7 million, through the LLC, Prentice Partners of Ann Arbor and another LLC that Heidi controlled.
The most expensive parcel on the Southtown block was a small apartment building at 1611 S. State. Prentice purchased it in 2019 for a little over $1.7 million. The same year, Heidi and Marge bought six small homes on the block for less than $500,000 each. In 2021 and 2022, they bought two other properties - a small apartment building and a four bedroom house - for just over $1 million each. The tenth property, a three bedroom house, was purchased in 2022 for $850,000.
These numbers add up to just over $7 million.
The number 7 million is significantly less than Heidi’s claim of 19 million. Nineteen million is much closer to the amount of debt and secured claims that attach to the properties. The inflated number of 19 million helps bolster the claim that this block is a prime location.
In February, the bankruptcy court judge heard an explanation of what Southtown was worth.
[2026 court recording]
LAWYER:
45.8 million.
JUDGE:
That's a broker's price opinion?
LAWYER:
Broker opinion and value of the property as it stood. It referenced the site plan approval that had been obtained. We have a more recent appraisal of November 5, 2025.
LAWYER:
This is an appraisal, not a broker opinion of value.
JUDGE:
Okay.
LAWYER:
Also by Colliers: $61.3 million.
JUDGE:
Okay, of the land as it stood at that time, considering the entitlements as of that time, right?
LAWYER:
Correct
JUDGE:
That was very helpful. And that $61.3 million you referenced from the November 25, 2025 appraisal, that's the number you used in the schedules, correct?
LAWYER:
Correct. Which shows significant equity, obviously.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Based on that value, Heidi has proposed a reorganization of Southtown. Investors would buy equity. The amount of their investment is more than enough to cover the debt.
RALPH:
In this case, the claims are roughly $30 plus million, and the value is listed at $61. So all the creditors can easily get paid in full. That is unusual in this type of case. In these cases, in the high nineties percent, the property of the debtor - the land or the development or whatever the assets are - are not worth as much as the secured debt, so that there is no equity. And usually the shareholders in a lot of these cases come out with little or nothing because the property value is not high enough to have equity be paid anything in a plan. This is different from the typical case because the property is being valued at significantly higher than the amount of debt,
ELIZABETH NELSON:
I looked in County records to confirm sale prices for each of the properties at Southtown. County records include the signed documents for every land transaction, including mortgages and secured interests.
Prentice Partners of Ann Arbor bought all the properties on the Southtown block. Each property was later transferred to the Southtown LLC for $1.
Both Heidi and Marge could sign documents representing Prentice Partners. Individually, they could act on behalf of the company, without the signature of the other.
For the properties at Southtown, I noticed a pattern in who signed the documents for which kind of transaction.
On behalf of Prentice, Marge signed her name to the land purchases that added up to just over $7 million. She signed mortgages that corresponded to the purchase price of each property. Marge signed the documents transferring each property from Prentice to Southtown for $1.
On behalf of Prentice, Heidi facilitated very different transactions. She signed mortgages assuming millions of dollars more in debt. She signed away rents in exchange for liens on the properties.
One example: in November 2019, Marge signed a mortgage on behalf of Prentice Partners for the property at 1601 S. State street. The property cost $400,000, the mortgage was for $315,000.
Six months later, in April 2020, Heidi signed a mortgage on behalf of Prentice Partners that included the same property at 1601 S. State Street. Heidi’s mortgage placed a lien on 1601 and three other properties, adding up to over $1 million. On behalf of Prentice Partners, Heidi also signed away a secured interest in all rents collected.
[MUSIC]
The documents signed by Marge reflect straightforward transactions, buying properties on the Southtown block and transferring them from Prentice to the Southtown LLC. The documents signed by Heidi reflect growing debt that escalated every time Marge bought another parcel.
Did Marge know what Heidi was doing? Did Marge know the scale of debt that Heidi attached to Southtown? Does it matter that Heidi lied to the bankruptcy court about what she paid for Southtown? Did she lie about anything else?
RALPH MCKEE:
If this plan is confirmed in late September, and it's funded the way it's described in the plan, these creditors will all be getting checks for their money in full in October. I don't remember exactly when the effective date is, but it's pretty soon after confirmation. All the transactions close and the cut checks get cut, or wire transfers get sent, and the creditors are all paid in full. In that situation, there's no motivation at all to challenge any of the claims.
ELIZABETH NELSON:
Thanks for listening. Coming up in Episode 12: Heidi tells the bankruptcy court that multiple third party “financiers” will offer competitive bids to fund Southtown. Heidi’s share of the project depends on what the probate court approves.
If you have something to share about Heidi’s activities in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, or California. Please reach out to hollowhypepodcast@gmail.com
