Receiver to take control of former Elyria Days Inn

ELYRIA – Control over the dilapidated Days Inn property will be turned over to a receiver, who will oversee the property and determine the best way to move forward. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Giovanna Bremke ruled Monday that the property be given to the receiver after the property owner, Suite Living LLC, failed to abate the property in accordance with a January agreement between the company and the city. Attorney Christopher Mulvaney was named to the position. Law Director Amanda Deery said that the city had moved to have the property given to the receiver in March. "Obviously we are pleased that the judge granted our motion, but we don't really have anything else to comment on since we have not yet had the chance to even discuss this with the appointed receiver," Deery said. Suite Living LLC, which is registered in Connecticut, could appeal Bremke's decision. Request seeking comment was left with Scott Johnson, the firm's attorney. Last year the city sued Suite Living seeking to have the property deemed a nuisance, and in January the company and city reached an agreement in which the company acknowledged the vacant hotel was "a menace to public health" and that it was unsanitary, unsafe and no longer habitable. The Elyria Fire Department, Building Department and Lorain County Public Health all have outstanding complaints and violations filed against it. The agreement included a number of deadlines by which Suite Living was to secure the property, remove all debris, install a fence and ensure the property had a functional fire alarm and suppression system. Deery said the city was aware that some of the agreed-upon work had been done, but that numerous deadlines had come and gone without required work being completed. "I believe there were some efforts made," she said. "However, the life, safety and public health concerns there still remain outstanding, which is why the motion for receivership was filed." Deery said that these outstanding issues included the fact that the city has reason to believe that unauthorized individuals were breaking into the old hotel and causing further damage, as evidenced by recently broken windows on higher floors. In her ruling, Bremke wrote that multiple issues had not been remedied despite "ample notice and opportunity" for Suite Living to carry out the work and that a known consequence of failing to remedy the issues was the property being handed to a receiver. The duty of the receiver is to take control of the property, get it into compliance with city and county regulations and determine the best steps forward for the property. Those could include completing the abatement, putting the property up for sale or demolishing the building, Deery said. "I liken it to almost a guardianship in a way, where the receiver has to act in the best interest of the property in terms of maintaining its value," Deery said. Suite Living will maintain certain rights in regards to the property, including to any proceeds of a possible sale of the property. The company purchased the Days Inn property in 2021 for $720,000, according to Lorain County Auditor's Office records. Mayor Kevin Brubaker said that he was happy with the court's ruling, saying the abatement of the Days Inn property would help pave the way for redevelopment in the area. He pointed to ongoing projects including the Lorain County Port Authority signing a $17 million contract with Industrial Commercial Properties to redevelop the nearby Midway Mall and the current construction of a new hotel near the former Days Inn. "This is just an example of entities working together," Brubaker said. "The city administration, the law director and the courts working together to start the movement on eliminating a dilapidated, unsafe building in our city. I'm excited this is moving forward." Brubaker said that considering the condition of the building, he believed the most likely and the most fitting outcome would be for the building to be demolished and the land sold. "If you look at it, the (former) Days Inn is an albatross that sits there," he said. "As soon as you pull off the Turnpike or you drive from north to south off of I-90, that's what you see. So eventually getting that building gone and getting something else developed on that property, along with redevelopment of the mall, there's a great opportunity for economic growth there." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com