Blighted motel demolition set to start after Labor Day

The City of Reno is set to demolish two vacant, blighted motels on Tuesday, September 6, 2016.

The motels, previously named the Heart o’ Town and the Golden West, have been closed and vacant for nearly eight years. The funding to demolish the motels comes from the City’s $1-million dollar Blight Initiative fund.

“The Reno City Council and I have made it a top priority to put funding toward creating a downtown environment that attracts residents, students, businesses and visitors alike,” Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said in a press release. “Getting rid of downtown blight is an important step forward in that process.”

On July 6, 2016, Council approved to award a contract to demolish the two motels. The contract was awarded to Q&D Construction in an amount not to exceed $216,463.69 from the Blight Mitigation Capital Projects Fund.

As a stipulation of the demolition agreement, the property owners have agreed to repay the City for the demolition costs. The owners also agreed for the City to place a special assessment lien against the property.

As of today, the City has used about $347,000 of its Blight Initiative fund on the abatement and demolition of vacant properties around Reno, graffiti clean-ups, creating a fund for murals by local artists to deter graffiti, expanding neighborhood clean-ups, adding trash cans, and purchasing truck-mounted pressure washers to clean alleys and walkways.