An Egypt-themed room in the B-wing of the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites shows the aftermath of a significant water leak that occurred while the hotel was unoccupied during the extreme cold snap in late December.
Leeann Doerflein | Daily Journal
Inside the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites Thursday, floors in the hotel’s B-wing were soaked with water and ceiling debris covered the floor of many rooms.
A pipe had burst during the period of time when the hotel, 1117 E. Main St., Greenwood, was supposed to be unoccupied by court order. The major water leak flooded the hotel wing and inspectors worked with the scent of mold permeating the air.
Officials from Greenwood’s building and fire departments, along with the Johnson County Health Department, toured the hotel for an all-building inspection Thursday morning, they documented not only the water leak and disrepair, but also the hotel’s efforts to correct issues. This is the first inspection since Nov. 28 and the first since a Johnson County judge granted city officials’ request for a preliminary injunction to force employees who reside at the troubled hotel to vacate the property, and ruled that city inspectors must have access to the hotel for inspections.
For Thursday’s inspection, hotel owner Ahmed Mubarak allowed officials to inspect the entire hotel, though they had to be escorted by employees. The Daily Journal tagged along with inspectors, with Mubarak’s permission, as they worked.
Inside the hotel
Rooms in the A-wing of the hotel seem to be in better repair, while other parts of the hotel had deteriorated even more because of the water damage.
In many rooms, baseboards were incomplete and carpeting or flooring did not meet walls and doorways. Windows were still in disrepair and some rooms were without working plumbing.
Power was largely off in the hotel, but some rooms had the heat on and had fresh towels and hotel-issued toiletries.
Many of the hotel’s balconies had trash and furniture on them, which employees told inspectors were left there when the rooms were cleaned out.
Rooms upstairs in the hotel’s C-wing had been used as extended-stay rooms for hotel employees. One of those rooms had yogurt in the refrigerator that doesn’t expire until the end of January. The same room also had a chair facing the TV, with a tissue box and an empty beer can nearby. The room had no carpet and tools littered the floor.
In an interview with the Daily Journal Thursday, Mubarak denied that people were still living at the hotel past the Dec. 29 order. He also said work stopped after the order.
He said the yogurt belonged to someone who had been working in the hotel to make repairs “long ago,” he said.
There was graffiti on the walls in one room. One piece of graffiti said “Enter at your own risk,” while another depicted marijuana leaves and said 420, a slang term for marijuana. The room had toiletries in the bathroom and a backed-up sink, and personal items like a large stuffed dog and garbage bags full of bedding were still in the room.
When asked about the marijuana-themed graffiti, Mubarak said employees are not supposed to use drugs at the hotel, and when they do, he lets them go, he said.
‘Bad faith’
Following Clark’s ruling on Dec. 29, attorneys for the hotel filed documents responding to the city’s claim, notifying them of the hotel’s affirmative defenses and filing notice of a counterclaim. The hotel denied most of the city’s claims and accused them of deliberately acting to damage the hotel.
Josh Lowry, one of the hotel’s attorneys, wrote city officials’ claims are barred because of their own “bad faith, lack of honesty in fact” and their alleged failure to observe commercial standards of fair dealing, among other reasons. Attorneys also allege the city failed to follow the statutory requirements of Indiana’s Unsafe Building Act, which officials have used as part of their legal authority to shut down the hotel, court documents show.
In the hotel’s counterclaim, Mubarak is seeing an award of damages as a result of inverse condemnation and other “just and proper relief.” Inverse condemnation is the act of a government taking property for public use while greatly damaging the value of the plaintiff’s property.
One of the first actions discussed was the June 2021 inspection, which led to the initial vacation order. Numerous violations were found during this inspection, but the vacation was later delayed due to the issuance of a work permit for repairs the following November.
Lowry argues that the alleged violations found in the June 2021 inspection posed no risk to the public. This is evidenced by the fact the city did not follow up on the June 2021 inspection until September 2022 — more than a year later, he wrote in the hotel’s response.
Conflicting information
Hotel attorneys also allege the city has been preventing Mubarak and his staff from making necessary and changes and repairs.
On Dec. 16, Building Commissioner Kenneth Seal attempted to schedule another inspection with Mubarak, however, Mubarak allegedly denied the request and referred Seal to his attorney due to the ongoing litigation, according to court documents.
However, Seal did not speak with Mubarak’s attorney. He subsequently issued a stop work order ordering all repair work at the hotel to stop immediately, as this was a violation of the work permit for repairs, court documents say.
While Clark ruled that the hotel must follow the original agreement to vacate and make repairs, the stop-work order is still in effect. Lowry alleges the city is enforcing both the original agreement and the stop work order at the same time despite conflicting terms, court documents show.
The stop work order was still in effect Wednesday, pending whether or not inspectors were granted access for Thursday’s inspection, Seal said via email Wednesday. If inspectors were given access, then it would be possible for the stop work order to be removed.
Seal and Johnson County Health Department Director Betsey Swearingen said the inspectors would meet soon to discuss their findings and determine what the next steps are for the hotel based on the Thursday inspection.
Through his attorneys, Mubarak also appealed the stop work order to the city’s plan commission. Action has not yet been taken on the appeal.
Additionally, the hotel’s attorneys have also claimed the city is improperly enforcing the state’s unsafe building act. The hotel is composed of three separate buildings, but the city has been referring to the hotel as one building, attorneys say.
In a court hearing last month, Seal testified that state law requires him to treat each building as its own structure and said the hotel could have reopened individual buildings if they were brought up to code. Mubarak alleges he was never informed of this option, according to court documents.
Negative comments
The hotel’s attorneys and Mubarak have taken aim at Mayor Mark Myers amid the city’s attempts to force the hotel to comply.
After the September 2022 inspection, Myers told an Indianapolis TV station that murder suspects were taken out of the hotel and that prostitution had taken place there. He also reportedly said he intended to use the hotel as an example for other area hotels with issues, and said if the hotel didn’t get back up to code officials would try to condemn the property, court documents say.
Both Mubarak and the hotel’s attorneys have denied this, and say this has damaged the hotel’s reputation.
Attorneys also referenced a statement Myers made to the Daily Journal in September, where he said he hoped the hotel’s license was revoked completely, according to court documents.
The hotel’s attorneys have argued Myers’ statements put pressure on city officials to close the hotel. They also allege the statements were made so Mubarak would be forced to close the hotel and sell the property to the city at a “discounted price,” court documents show.
Mubarak told the Daily Journal Thursday he believes the city and Myers are out to get his land to redevelop it, citing Myers’ comments to the TV station.
City attorneys have not yet responded to the filing, according to public records available Thursday afternoon.
Owner details challenges
For the last three months, the hotel has been down financially since they can’t have guests, Mubarak said Thursday. He has been spending whatever money he has left to fix up the hotel, he said.
Since the city issued the stop-work order, the hotel has not been able to make any repairs, Mubarak said. This hasn’t been without its challenges though.
Following the water leak, Mubarak is not sure where he will get the money to make the repairs. The hotel recently lost its insurance, he said.
It has also been challenging for his employees, who have put a lot of time into repairing the hotel.
“After all the work they put in, what kind of motivation will there be left for them to do anything?” Mubarak said.
Mubarak has owned the hotel for the last 13 years and has made many upgrades to the hotel, he said. Business has been down for the last few years, but this picked up in severity after the city began its multi-agency inspections in 2021, he claims.
He believes the increased scrutiny of his hotel is the result of former employees who were fired due to personnel issues. When they are let go, they complain to the health department, he said.
Mubarak is doing all he can to deal with the hotel’s problems, like eliminating cash payments and removing extended stays, he said.
“These are basic measures that we have taken,” Mubarak said. “This shows how genuine we are in getting the place up.”
Lowry says the hotel is working closely with the city to fix any issues. He toured the hotel with inspectors Thursday and took notes on their areas of concern.
“My takeaway is I feel like there is a cooperative effort between us the city, the commission and the health department,” Lowry said.
Daily Journal reporter Noah Crenshaw and editor Leeann Doerflein co-wrote this report.
