Jury sides with Boone County businesses in student housing contract case

In a split verdict, a Boone County jury awarded more than $34 million to a pair of businesses over a $14.7 million purchase of a Columbia student housing project that was lost to foreclosure just two years after the 2016 purchase.

In a trial that concluded in late September, the jury awarded plaintiff MO Murrayfield, LLC, $4.075 million in compensatory damages against defendant Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, Inc., a brokerage firm, and an additional $20 million in punitive damages.

Co-plaintiff TwinRock Holdings, LLC, which set up the transaction and was the sponsor for financing, was awarded an additional $10 million in punitive damages.

But the same jury sided with co-defendants Southside Ventures. LLC, and Rob Hill — sellers in the multi-party transaction — rejecting the claims of fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation on their parts.

The complaint alleged that Marcus & Millichap — which trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange and, at $1.5 billion valuation, is one of the country’s largest real estate investment brokerages — failed to disclose key material facts that would likely have scuttled the purchase of Log Hill Run, a student housing complex at 5151 Commercial Drive in Columbia.

Specifically, the plaintiffs said they were deceived when not told that a competing company had pulled out of its own purchase deal due to concerns over the project’s financial statements. The financial records provided were intentionally different, said plaintiff’s attorney Brian Malkmus, who represented MO Murrayfield.

“Marcus & Millichap knew that a prior buyer had backed out of the purchase and stated that the reason was misrepresentation to actual fraud,” he said. “Armed with that knowledge, however, M&M  did not tell either the seller (its client) or the buyer (my client) of the reason for the buyer backing out and instead took the seller’s financials and worked on them in a way that the material that sparked the suspicions of fraud was hidden and not able to be found by my client. It then gave my client those restated financials and passed them off as a complete set.”

He added, “Further, there was testimony that when asked why the prior buyer backed out, M&M’s representative was less than forthcoming.”

The buyers said they were assured that the property was 100 percent leased, with parental guarantees of all leases — only to later find out that tenants were offered inducements ranging from reduced security deposits to cash and free Apple TVs to sign leases.

Once the purchase agreement was signed, they would learn that the property only had a 57 percent lease rate for the 2016-17 school year, with the defendants allegedly reducing annual leases to 10 months, no longer requiring parental guarantees and sharply reducing rent for renewing students in order to clear the 90 percent occupancy threshold needed to approve the deal. By the next year, the property was lost to foreclosure.

Attorneys for Marcus & Millichap did not respond to requests for comment. Bradley Hansmann, who represented Log Hill Run’s previous owners, said his clients felt “vindicated” by the verdict in their favor.

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$34.075 million jury verdict

Construction/breach of contract

Breakdown and distribution of total value: $20 in punitive damages and $4.075 in compensatory damages in favor of plaintiff MO Murrayfield, LLC and against defendant Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, Inc; $10 million in punitive damages for plaintiff TwinRock Partners, LLC and against defendant Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.

Case Number/Date:18BA-CV00443/Sept. 30, 2025

Court: Boone County Circuit Court

Judge: Circuit Judge Jeff Harris

Caption: MO Murrayfield, LLC & Twin Rock Partners, LLC v. Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, Inc; Southside Ventures, LLC,  Log Hill Properties and Consulting, LLC; Greg Logsdon; and Robert Hill

Plaintiff’s attorneys: Heidi Doerhoff Vollet; Cook, Vetter, Doerhoff & Landwehr, Jefferson City (for TwinRock Partners); Brian Malkmus, Malkmus Law Firm, Springfield (for MO Murrayfield); Randy Scheer and ; Jacob Sappington,  Baty, Otto, & Scheer, Springfield.

Defendant’s attorneys: Allan Joseph, Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph, Miami; Marjorie Lewis, Evans & Dixon, Columbia (for Marcus & Milllichap); Ted Wallace Wright and Bradley Hansmann; Watters Wolf Bub and Hansmann, St. Joseph (for Log Hill, South Side Ventures and  Hill)

Plaintiff’s experts: Matt Barberich, Kansas City (accounting); Patrick Sheahan, Scottsdale, Arizona (real estate), Angela Moorelock Springfield (accounting)

Defendant’s experts: John John, Columbia (real estate), Jerod Allen, Parkville (adjuster)