GREENWOOD — A Johnson County judge has ruled the demolition of a troubled Greenwood hotel, the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites, can move forward.
- March 17- City of Greenwood building commissioner issued order of demolition for the Red Carpet Inn
- April 21- Hotel’s owner, Lodging & Trade LLC and Ahmed Mubarak, filed petition to stay (halt) the demolition
- April 22- Judge granted the hotel owner’s petition, effectively pausing the demolition
- November 15- Judge held hearing in which hotel owner said he no longer had legal representation;
- November 21- Judge vacated the stay, effectively allowing the city to proceed with the demolition
Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said on November 29 the city is proceeding with getting three bids for demolition in preparation that the current owner will not move forward with demolition.
"It will take a couple of weeks for the demo contractors to put together and submit their bids," said Myers in an email to WRTV. "We will award the contract as soon as possible and move forward with the demolition at that time."
On November 15, the City of Greenwood made its case before Johnson County Judge Marla Clark to continue with tearing down the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites.
“This place is a dangerous nuisance,” said William Barrett, attorney for the City of Greenwood. “Things will get worse than they are.”
City of Greenwood Building Commissioner Kenneth Seal shared pictures with the court taken November 15 which showed broken windows, graffiti, fire damage and other vandalism at the hotel.
The city says the photos are proof the hotel needs to be demolished for public safety reasons.
Building Commissioner Kenneth Seal testified November 15 that the city has spent more than 100 man hours at the hotel since the demolition order was issued in April 2023, including police, fire, building and code enforcement.
The city maintains the hotel’s owners have not taken steps to fix the property or properly secure it.
The hotel’s owners did not have legal representation in court and thus, were not allowed to make any legal arguments.
Mubarak says it’s the city’s fault.
“They kicked us out. They said you cannot stay in a building of this size when there is no security,” said Mubarak. “You expect this kind of thing to happen. They caused this because they say I cannot be there.”
Mubarak says he is trying to sell the property, but potential buyers are scared.
“The issue is anybody who comes forward gets scared of the city,” said Mubarak. “This slogan about it being unsafe is highly disputed because I hired an inspection company and they filed a report saying the building is safe and sound.”
Mubarak said he is being treated unfairly.
“It’s appalling,” said Mubarak. “I’m stripped of my rights as a citizen. I’m stripped of my rights as a businessman. What kind of treatment is this?”
WRTV Investigates raised questions last year regarding the health and safety of the hotel after the operations manager was found dead, and a mother found a man inside her room going through her credit cards.
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