City of Albuquerque shutters 2 'problematic' West Side motels in a matter of days

The city of Albuquerque temporarily shut down two neighboring motels on the West Side this past week, saying inspections found numerous code violations and safety hazards at both properties.

Inspections on Tuesday and Thursday by city code enforcement at the Motel 6 and Days Inn on Iliff NW, near Coors, turned up used syringes, graffitied walls, and broken plumbing and heating, according to city spokesperson Tim Walsh.

Neither property owner could be reached Friday.

The properties were the fourth and fifth motels to be shut down by the city in the past several months, he said. The owners are being given an opportunity to “get back up to code” and reopen.

“It sounds like, so far, both entities plan on doing that,” Walsh said, adding that doing so could be costly and definitely take some time.

Mayor Tim Keller said in a Friday statement that he hoped the property owners “understand our message with absolute clarity: we will not tolerate establishments that endanger our community.”

Walsh said the “crime-laden” Motel 6, at 6015 Iliff NW, had several hundred police calls in the last year, including multiple reported auto thefts, aggravated assaults, shootings and rapes.

Due to the Motel 6 closure, Walsh said, 31 people staying there had to leave the property. Fifteen were connected to long-term housing and seven to temporary housing by the Albuquerque Community Safety department.

Some people were paying up to $1,400 a week “to stay in dangerous conditions,” he said.

Walsh said only seven people — four from the same family — were staying at the Days Inn, which had more than 100 rooms, when it was shuttered Thursday.

“This is another sad example of a property owner choosing to run an operation that harms the neighborhood,” Planning Department Director Alan Varela said in a news release. “They let what was once a good property deteriorate to the point where it is not safe to occupy.”