ELYRIA, Ohio — Elyria is hoping a recently filed lawsuit will help hold the owner of a vacant, rundown hotel accountable for its condition.
The former Days Inn greets anyone entering the city’s north side. Its boarded-up windows and overgrown vegetation are visible from nearby State Route 57 between Interstate 90 and the Ohio Turnpike.
“This is an albatross,” said Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker. “We have the Turnpike and I-90 right here and we have some redevelopment coming in this area. You have two nice hotels to my left here and a third one going to start later this fall. And then you have this monstrosity sitting here.”
The mayor and other longtime Elyrians recall the hotel’s heyday when it was a point of pride in the city.
“This property was the meeting place for weddings and graduation ceremonies and reunions. They had a bar and a ballroom and a hotel,” said Brubaker.
Elyria Fire Chief Joseph Pronesti added, “It was a premier spot in the city, especially with the mall nearby. But that was then and now it’s just fallen on really tough times.”
The hotel, which was formerly a Holiday Inn and a Ramada before it began operating as a Days Inn, has been in legal trouble previously.
In 2020, a Lorain County Court of Common Pleas judge declared the hotel a nuisance. The owners at that time were forced to shut down operations and sell the property.
The current owner, Suite Living, LLC, is now the subject of a lawsuit recently filed in Lorain County on behalf of the city. Court documents call the property a “menace to public health” and “dangerous to human life.”
“It’s probably one of the most dangerous buildings in the city, as far as the safety of my firefighters,” said Pronesti.
He explained the large, vacant building lacks fire control measures and has long attracted squatters. He worries a fire inside could force his crews into a dangerous situation, clearing the rundown structure and not knowing whether anyone is inside it.
The lawsuit details numerous fire and building code violations, as well as police reports of squatters and drug activity. It also includes reports from Lorain County Public Health about human waste, vandalism, nuisance animals and mold growth.
Many of the reports mention now past-due deadlines to address the issues. City leaders hope the lawsuit will spur action.
“It’s been seven, eight years that we’ve been dealing with this. Now it’s time that we have to act and be a little harsher in the way that we react to this,” said the mayor.
News 5 reached out to the Connecticut-based property owner, Shahid Shaikh. He claimed he was not aware of the lawsuit and said he’s been waiting to see what the future holds for the nearby Midway Mall.
“We’re not looking to be an obstacle to progress. We’re looking to either be part of it or put it in qualified hands,” Shaikh said during a phone call.
He told News 5 it was never his intention to let the hotel sit vacant for years, saying it didn’t make financial sense to invest in the property or sell it until it was clear what kind of development could replace the ailing mall.
The Lorain County Port Authority is currently finalizing a sale of Midway Mall to commercial rehabilitation group ICP.
The Cleveland-based company announced they would invest $42 million in the mall to create an “industrial innovation park.”
RELATED: The future of Midway Mall in Elyria has been decided
Shaikh said he’s interested in discussing how the former Days Inn property could fit into the Midway Mall redevelopment, and he’s open to selling the site to either the Port Authority or ICP.
Brubaker said the city has received interest from developers about the property. He and other city leaders want to see the nuisances addressed so new development can move forward.
“[We want to make] this a sustainable, respectable place for residents to see and visitors coming into our city,” he said.
The Elyria law director said the city has yet to receive a response from Shaikh or Suite Living, LLC regarding the lawsuit. She said the timeline for the civil case is dependent on the action the property owner takes.
