MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The owner of a blighted Memphis motel is being strong armed to clean up his act.
We've told you about the Executive Inn near Memphis International airport several times. The walls were gutted, the pool is filthy and the property is a dumping ground. Now it's on the verge of a turn around.
The man who owns the Executive Inn got a wakeup call in March, which prompted him to get his act together.
“We don't know how it got in the condition it's in, we're trying to make the best of a bad situation,” said the property owner’s lawyer, Max Williams. “I saw it about three weeks ago on the way to the airport and it's an abandoned hotel, it looked like it needed some help.”
It's help his client wouldn't give, so Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter gave the owner something in return: $24,619 in fines and court costs when the owner was a no show for his last court date. That got his attention.
“We're going to get it cleaned up and rehabilitated,” Williams said.
The plan is to eventually sell it. Aside from being an eyesore, the Executive Inn is a financial black hole for neighbors like Jerry Harkins, who has not been able to lease office space because of the motel.
“Every day space is vacant you're losing money. I don't have a number but it's significant. I know the Aerotropolis building at 2990 Airways has lost numerous prospective tenants because of the motel's condition,” Harkins said.
The owner's lawyer will be back in court in June. By then the property has to be fenced off and its pool drained and covered. If that doesn't happen, the fines and court costs will go up.
