CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte motel that many call home is shutting down. Developer Urban Trends Real Estate is under contract to buy the Econo Lodge on S. Tryon St.
What You Need To Know
- Urban Trends Real Estate plans to buy Econo Lodge
- Econo Lodge tenants have received two notices to vacate since mid-September
- The hotel hasn’t had hot water since Sept. 26
- While tenants say turning off hot water was the motel’s way of forcing them out, the Econo Lodge manager says hot water was turned off due to a leak
Tenants recently received two notices to vacate. This comes just months after another extended stay, Southern Comfort Inn, suddenly closed, leaving 80 low-income families without a home, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Shalanda Brown, who’s lived at Econo Lodge for months, says the hotel cut off the hot water as a way to force everyone out.
“We have to take cold showers. It’s cold outside. It’s raining outside. People get sick like that,” she said. “And they don’t care. They got what they wanted out of it. They still continue to take our money.”
But, hotel manager Harshal Majmudar says they’re not forcing anyone out, and they stopped taking payments.
“It’s been almost a month and a half as an average for every guest who hasn’t paid anything,” he said.
Majmudar added Piedmont Gas turned off the hot water due to a gas leak found on September 26. He says it would cost $8,000 to fix.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the buyer — Urban Trends Real Estate about accommodations for the tenants and plans for the property, and they declined to comment.
Action NC says community partners Crisis Assistance Ministry and Community Link have offered to pay any back rent that tenants owe to previous landlords. Action NC says this could help them secure long-term housing.