EVERETT — The city has a signed purchase-and-sale that completes eminent domain on the Waits Motel, which it had declared fit for condemnation over the summer after the city’s purchase offer on the open market was declined almost a year ago.
It’s for $1.85 million with owner Medhat Said. Practically all the money will pay off the bank that holds the mortgage lien.
The City Council will be asked to authorize the purchase this week after press time.
The city declared the 24-room motel at 1301 Lombard Ave. a blight on the neighborhood. It used two criteria available in state law: That the Waits constitutes a threat to public health and welfare and has had much drug activity between July 2022 and July 2023.
The city began working to relocate the people in some motel rooms who are de facto long-term tenants. This relocation work will continue after the city owns the property, city officials said.
Five residents have already moved, and others are in the process of moving, city community development director Julie Willie said last week.
The city believes the Waits could be unsanitary and unsafe, Willie said last week, and may need to expedite moving people. Willie said the city would seek to relocate residents first temporarily to other motels with the goal of long-term permanent housing.
Said bought the Waits in 2021, but put it on the market in early 2023.
The city tried to buy it on the open market but was rebuffed. Soon after, it mounted the argument for condemnation in July. The City Council voted to go ahead in July.
The motel’s managers working for Said had been talking about buying the Waits to transform it into a boutique motel. In the middle of the city pursuing condemnation, the managers signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for $2 million. Everett’s condemnation scuttled that by scaring away lenders.
The motel property was assessed at $2 million last year, county records show.
The resulting price of $1.85 million came through mediation in mid-December, city government affairs director Jennifer Gregerson said.
The city is using its capital improvement account geared for new facilities and improvements for the purchase. This account has about $3.6 million in it. The city has a different account for renovating its existing structures, and a different account for improving its parks and streets.
