City shuts North Valley motel, sixth property condemned in past year

The city condemned a North Valley motel Thursday for numerous code violations and concerns over criminal activity, according to a Planning Department news release.

Boarding up the Court John Motel at 2700 Fourth NW, just north of Menaul, marks the sixth motel the city has shuttered in the past year for health and safety concerns. The city described the property as a “hotspot for drug trafficking, violence and prostitution.”

The property owners could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Albuquerque Police Department reported 940 calls originating from within two blocks of the Court John Motel. At the property itself, APD responded to 16 battery cases, 26 reports of stolen vehicles, two shootings, three rapes and six drug-related offenses, according to the release.

The motel reportedly offered unauthorized long-term stays to 15 residents in rooms with failing plumbing, exposed wiring, pest infestations and structural damage. The motel was also operating without a valid certificate of occupancy and had signs of unpermitted construction.

Some residents were paying $1,400 a month using both cash and housing vouchers to stay in what the city called “dangerous living conditions.”

One such resident was Leticia Ramirez, who was charged with two felony counts of drug trafficking in April, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Ramirez allegedly dealt high quantities of fentanyl pills, in one instance out of her room at the motel, according to the complaint. Before her time in the North Valley, Ramirez was a resident of a Motel 6 on Coors NW, which the city closed in March, according to the release.

The Albuquerque Community Safety department connected all 15 displaced residents with temporary accommodations or long-term housing resources, according to the release.

Since October, the city has closed the Tewa Lodge, Bow and Arrow Lodge and Loma Verde motel in the International District, as well as the Motel 6 and Days Inn on the West Side along Coors NW. None of the properties have been remediated, said Planning Department spokesman Tim Walsh. However, three properties, the Tewa Lodge, Bow and Arrow Lodge and Days Inn, applied for building permits, Walsh said, which is the first step to reopening their businesses.

“Looks like they’re finally doing it the right way,” Walsh said.