EVERETT — The city has bought the Waits Motel, 1301 Lombard Ave., as the City Council gave a 7-0 approval on it last week. A sale price of $1.85 million was agreed in December. The city had pursued condemnation in court against owner Medhat Said.
The city hasn’t publicly shared its plan for the site.
What’s immediately next is the city will further assess the motel’s condition. “If we determine that it’s really not a healthy environment overall, we would likely demolish it,” Mayor Cassie Franklin said.
Last summer, Franklin expressed a desire to redevelop it into housing. The City Council will have the final say.
The city hired a relocation firm to move long-term tenants living in the motel rooms. City officials said
relocation efforts will continue after it takes possession.
Former motel managers Emily Simpson and Doug Modig tried for months to save the motel and show their efforts of eliminating crime on-site starting from when they were hired to manage it. Simpson last week called the taking “a government overreach.”
“It seems like there’s some citizens that worship the government and support anything you do, no matter who or what you crush,” Simpson told the council last week.
See past editions of the Tribune for coverage on the Waits Motel condemnation.
