The Enquirer38%
Newport closes chapter on Brass Ass, Brass Bull with $3.8M deal 22%
By Jolene Almendarez24%
7/24/2026, 10:18:46 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Fundamental Attribution Error, and Availability Heuristic, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 12% saturation with 151 hits. Analysis detected 920 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,261 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 35.4% and a BS Rank of 22% (17,250 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 78.80% of the article peer group.
NEWPORT, Ky. – It's official.
Newport's board of commissioners unanimously voted July 23 to buy nine properties in and around Monmouth Street, including the now-former Brass Ass, The Brass Bull and Huddle's Cafe.
It marks the end of adult entertainment in the city and another push past its seedy history of gambling and the mob.
"Sometimes an opportunity comes along that allows the community to turn a page.
For the city of Newport, that opportunity came through this purchase," Mayor Tom Guidugli said at the meeting.
The city has had its eye on the property for years but – due to a contentious history with property owners – felt the purchase might never happen.
That changed months ago when the city quietly began efforts to buy the property from a third-party.
Here are a few things to know about the deal:
## The nine properties
The former Brass Bull, Brass Ass, and Huddle's Cafe were the only operating businesses among the nine purchased properties.
The rest were either vacant or parking lots.
The properties include the following:
* 609 Monmouth St.
(Empty storefront building connected to the Brass Ass.)
* 613 Monmouth St. - (Formerly Brass Ass.)
* 612–614 Dayton St.
(Parking lot at rear of 613 Monmouth building.)
* 615 Monmouth St.
(Property adjacent to Brass Ass.)
* 616 Dayton St.
(Vacant building.)
* 620 Monmouth St.
(Parking lot.)
* 622 Monmouth St.
(Empty storefront, formerly New Attitude club apparel store.)
* 626 Monmouth St. - (Formerly The Brass Bull.)
* 628 Monmouth St. - (Formerly Huddle's Cafe.)
## Why did the city spend $3.8 million for the properties?
The properties were recently bought by Newport CRE, LLC for $3.5 million.
Greater Cincinnati real-estate developer Daniel R.
Gorman is the managing member.
The city voted to approve the purchase of the properties for $3.8 million.
According to a redevelopment and economic analysis report released by the city, Newport CRE, LLC spent an estimated $50,000 on a land title survey, environmental site assessment, title and closing costs to obtain the properties.
The roughly $250,000 that the LLC profited, the report said, is a "market-observed price" for "delivering the nine parcels as a single, ready-to-close package."
"It was likely, roughly a 7% fee that the seller got out of this," City Manager John Hayden said.
"That is exactly similar to a real estate brokerage fee."
But more importantly for the city, the LLC helped bridge the gap between the city and the family of former property owner Armina “Mina” Lee.
"There was no way that we could have done this without him purchasing the properties first," Hayden said.
## 'Natural tension' between the city and the clubs
Lee had owned the properties and ran the strip clubs since the mid-1970s.
Her brother and first husband had been shot and killed, possibly over gambling debts, during the crime syndicate days of the city, The Enquirer previously reported.
As the city rebounded from that era, Newport leaders tried to clean up the city's image.
Local lawmakers began passing nude dancing ordinances and cracked down on prostitution and other crimes.
Corruption was rooted out of local politics while gambling and the mob moved to Las Vegas as a result of the crime busts.
In 1991, Lee won a federal court ruling over the city that allowed her to reopen the Brass Bull after the city closed the bar when two of her employees were charged with prostitution.
"I think there's a natural adversarial type of relationship between an operation like that and a community that's trying to clean up its image," Assistant City Manager Brian Steffen said about the clubs.
He confirmed there have been police raids and prostitution arrests at the clubs.
At Huddle's Cafe, located directly next to the Brass Bull, a bouncer was shot and killed in late 2022.
And, according to the city employees, Lee and her family were not receptive to city efforts to make the places safer or its efforts to get tenants into some of the vacant properties the family owned.
When Lee died in March 2025, Hayden said city officials didn't think they'd get the chance to buy the properties.
Steffen added, "It is no secret that the family did not want to deal with the city on any level."
The Enquirer previously made multiple attempts to speak to Lee's family, but they declined to comment.
Gorman, however, was able to make the buy.
"He had the opportunity.
He had some sort of connection or ability to get to the family and we just didn't," Steffen said.
## Police calls and properties left unkept
In addition to the bawdy nature of the strip clubs, the city has spent more than $130,000 policing the cluster of businesses on the 600 block of Monmouth over the past five years while the buildings have been left unkept.
It's unclear how many police calls happen in other parts of the city, but Steffen said the properties received the "higher end of calls" in comparison to the rest of the city.
The former Brass Ass, Brass Bull, and Huddle's Cafe also appear rundown in comparison to some of the nearby businesses.
At the Brass Ass, white paint peels off the side of the building along with rust stains.
The Huddle's Cafe has a weather-worn awning.
And the front of The Brass Bull is marked with black soot stains.
According to the city, there's been almost no investment into the nine properties over the past four years or so.
The only upgrade was at The Brass Bull, which filed for a certificate of appropriateness in 2023 to repaint the club its existing color.
It's unclear if the project was ever completed.
In contrast, the surrounding buildings on the 600 block of Monmouth have had almost half-a-million dollars worth of renovations, additions and tenant build-out activity, according to the report.
Elsewhere along Monmouth, other big investments include an $800,000 remodel at the former U.S.
Bank two blocks south and $750,000 for an addition and remodel at Carnegie Hall at Newport event venue two blocks north, among many other investments.
## Will The Brass Bull, Brass Ass, or Huddle's ever make a comeback?
About 84 people worked at the three establishments during the last three months of 2025, the report said.
It seems unlikely they'll get their jobs back any time soon.
Adult entertainment clubs are not permitted in the central business district under the city's current zoning due to proximity to nearby schools.
And the names Brass Ass, The Brass Bull, Brass Mule, and Huddles have been transferred to the purchaser "specifically so they cannot be used in future business operations," the report said.
## What's next for the properties?
Steffen said the city is not in the business of being a developer.
Instead, he told the board of commissioners that within the next 90 days, there are plans to do routine inspections at the sites, make emergency repairs as needed, and develop requests for proposals.
In a "worst case" scenario, he said the city may have to invest an additional $200,000 to manage the properties throughout the 2026-27 fiscal year.
"Moving forward, we are going to seek input from the public, but primarily, we're going to be looking for great ideas from developers," Steffen said.
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You can reach Northern Kentucky reporter Jolene Almendarez at jolenea@usatodayco.com or follow her on social media.
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