Unauthorized renovations made to R. Kelly’s Chicago warehouse, in which he uses the second floor as a recording studio, have resulted in the singer reportedly being hit with 66 building code violations. Chicago officials are alleging that he converted the commercial space into a residence without obtaining the proper permits.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, the building, described in great detail in Lifetime’s docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, contains bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a sauna, steam room and a full bar that were all built without city officials being informed.The violations come after the studio was inspected last week by Chicago police and the Cook County Building and Zoning Department, who filed the complaint against Kelly. Each of the the violations levied against Kelly is tied to a daily fine, ranging between $500 to $1,000, meaning he could potentially be charged $33,000 to $66,000 per day until the situation gets resolved. Kelly’s attorney, Melvin Sims, denied that the space was being used as a residence despite the presence of multiple bedrooms and bathrooms on the site. “A facility on the premises does not a residence make. A couch on the premises does not make it a living room,” he told CBS Chicago. “Obviously, you have attorneys and judges, and we are interpreting how a creative spaces is to be used, and we’re probably the least creative people inclined to do that.”The court has instructed Kelly to take all of his personal belongings out of the facility and use it exclusively as a recording studio. The entire second floor of the property is shut down, and the warehouse can only be used from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.