A Fort Worth motel long tied to crime complaints is being demolished, the first such teardown under a city program aimed at properties with persistent criminal activity and code problems. Crews have begun taking down the Central Motel on East Lancaster Avenue.
The demolition is the first carried out under NET Force, an initiative that brings several city departments together to deal with troubled properties. It follows years of complaints from nearby businesses and residents about conditions at the site.
Fourkan Ubaid of Metro Car Service, a neighboring business, said the change is already being felt. "Right now, we feel way safer and better," he said. Ubaid described damaged vehicles and broken windows at nearby offices as problems linked to the area.
Fort Worth police documented hundreds of reports connected to the motel, including prostitution, illegal drug activity and a murder. Officer Jentry Cotton said officers responded to the property regularly and worked with several specialized units. "We've been out here on a weekly basis, working with police division patrol, working with narcotics, working our vice unit," Cotton said.
City code enforcement officials separately identified 123 violations across the motel's three buildings. Cotton said the property had become a gathering spot for criminal activity with little oversight from its owners. "The owner was not in control of the property; the criminals were on the property selling drugs out of the room," he said.
The city filed a lawsuit against the property's owners this summer. The owners later agreed to pay for the demolition, and in exchange the city dropped the suit. A spokesperson for the motel declined to comment.
Officials say the effort is not ending with this site. At least six more properties, including motels, shopping centers and apartment complexes, are targeted in the next phase of NET Force. Signs have already been posted at some of them, warning owners to fix ongoing problems or face further enforcement.
Oscar Reyes, Fort Worth's code enforcement superintendent, said the goal is to put responsibility on owners. "We want them to be accountable. We want them to take the lead on this," he said.
According to the city, some properties initially targeted through the program have since come into compliance, while others have closed. Officials say more demolitions are possible if owners fail to resolve their violations. "We'll come in and use all the tools that are afforded to us to bring it through to demolition, if we need to," Reyes said.
