Adrian City Commission discusses plans for owning Adrian Inn

ADRIAN — Now that the Adrian City Commission has ownership of the Adrian Inn, the next detail to be addressed is what is the city going to do with the inn once the situation with the Riverview Terrace apartment evacuation is resolved?

That question was discussed at length during the commission’s premeeting work study session Aug. 15, which took place days before the city’s closing on the purchase of the inn on Friday. The city commission agreed Aug. 1 to buy the motel for $800,000, with the money coming from the city's capital projects fund.

The motel will serve as transitional housing for nearly 100 displaced residents of the Riverview Terrace apartments until longer-term housing solutions are found, the city said.

More:Adrian completes purchase of Adrian Inn

More:Riverview Terrace tenants told not to wait for repairs as city plans temporary shelter

Riverview Terrace is an independent-living community for people who are 62 or older or who are permanently disabled. It was condemned and its approximately 175 tenants were evacuated July 25 after a 6- to 9-inch gap between the floor and a wall was found in a third-floor apartment while carpet was being removed. Inspections found several more cracks throughout the building. Officials have said it appears the exterior walls are separating from the interior structure of the building.

“The way that building was built 50 years ago, is not the way you would build a building today,” Adrian City Administrator Greg Elliott explained to the commission during last week’s premeeting.

Structural engineers, including a specialty firm from Chicago, continue to study the building in an effort to design a remedy for the structure.

While that process continues, displaced tenants have been assisted by the city with several temporary housing solutions thus far — currently with residences at the Adrian Inn, the Tecumseh Inn and the Super 8 Motel in Adrian. Other individuals have found housing solutions on their own, including residing with family members.

Stephen Rojas and Stacey Michelin, two Riverview Terrace residents, attended the commission’s premeeting last week. Both of them were among the group of tenants who were relocated from Lenawee County to the Splash Universe hotel in Dundee for a two-week period that began July 29 and concluded Aug. 12. They are now back in Lenawee County, residing at the Adrian Inn.

Michelin said her room at the Adrian Inn is nice and is equipped with a television, microwave and air conditioning.

“You have to make the best of it, because there is nothing better,” she said. “There is nothing better right now.”

Rojas said in October it will have been two years since he moved into Riverview Terrace. While he admittedly is frustrated with the situation, Rojas said he understands the city is doing its best to address the concerns of the tenants.

“I’m fortunate, I suppose,” he said. “I have a car. I can walk up and down stairs, but most of (the residents) don't have family and there's nowhere for them to go. So I feel sorry for a lot of these people," he said.

Commissioner Allen Heldt said he is a “hope for the best, but expect the worst” kind of guy. In the case of Riverview Terrace being fixed and habitable again, Heldt said his concern is the building won’t be repaired.

After long-term housing solutions have been found for the Riverview Terrace tenants, the city could sell the inn for the same $800,000 it paid to a hotel operator that has expressed interest in the property, Elliott told the commission on Aug. 1. At its meeting last week, he said the prospective buyer still appears interested in acquiring the building.

An initial proposal with the prospective buyer of the Adrian Inn was that the city would sell the inn with the condition the residents of Riverview Terrace can remain there for a year or until other housing is arranged. The city, Elliott said, could turn over all motel responsibilities to the buyer subject to an agreement clause.

In its current state, the Adrian Inn is habitable and is in fair condition, Elliott said. There are several needed repairs and many issues with the building, too, he added. If the city were to repair those items while the motel was under its ownership, those improvements could be selling points to prospective buyers, he said.

“I would think those things would be of equal interest to a new owner, so maybe we can recoup those costs,” Elliott said.

Leaking and broken water heaters, a leaking roof and some other building maintenance items to address are some of the commission’s concerns at this time at the Adrian Inn.

Elliott called the inn “serviceable” at this time, but for the long-term, the building is going to require a lot of work. The hotel buyer gave Elliott the impression, he said, if the inn were bought it would be gutted.

While the city made a commitment to help out the displaced residents, commissioner Lad Strayer said he does not want to be in the hotel business for an entire year.

“We need to know that we can flip this within a year,” he said, also noting that while the city owns the motel, it needs to “do it right” when it comes to addressing further needs of the residents staying at the inn.

Whatever direction the city takes — long-term or short-term with the Adrian Inn — it will be a lot for the city residents to take on, commissioner Mary Roberts said.

“I just want people to know that we talked about these issues,” she said. “That right now, this is the best option that we can come up with. We don't have other options for these residents. Yes, there's going to be liability. Yes, there could be costs that we can't recoup. Yes, there's going to be some people who are not going to have housing, but we're doing what we can to address all of those concerns as much as a city government can do.”

Commissioner Kelly Castleberry said the situation with Riverview Terrace is a “humanitarian crisis” and also not just an Adrian problem but a Lenawee County problem, too, as it highlights a countywide housing shortage.

The focus on what to do and what decisions to make, she said, needs to be on the people residing at Riverview Terrace, with which the entire commission was in agreement.

“Until we know what the outcome at Riverview Terrace is going to be, Lenawee County might be looking at more than 200 homeless people, and there is no way Lenawee or the surrounding counties can house them,” Castleberry said. “I can't displace 200 people out of their community. That doesn't sit well with me.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian City Commission discusses plans for Adrian Inn