Bellevue Inn – Memphis Flyer

In 1997, former Flyer reporter Phil Campbell wrote a cover story titled “Cheaper by the Hour,” which detailed the operations of local hourly rate motels three years after a zoning ordinance was passed to try and relocate the motels.

“But three years after the zoning ordinance was passed, the hourly rate motels have not moved from their old locations in the commercial districts,” Campbell wrote. “The council has been told by the courts that it simply cannot shut down independent motels that charge by the hour, and the motel owners do not appear ready to give up their current locations. The motels persist as the most accessible place in Memphis to both buy and have cheap sex, and they continue to blight declining neighborhoods.”

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Campbell spent the night at the Bellevue Inn, located at 1250 South Bellevue, and described his interactions with prostitutes as they repeatedly approached him and asked if he’d like some company.

“Before I reach my room, a woman jumps out of a parked van and asks in a wooden voice, ‘Can I come, too?’ Her eyes are unfocused, strung out. I tell her maybe later. It is only 7:30. Business is still slow,” writes Campbell.

According to Memphis City Council Chairman Jim Strickland, a mechanism was set to combat existing hourly rate motels when ownership transfers. There isn’t much the council can do, however, about m otels that have been charging hourly rates for years and haven’t changed owners.

“Any transfer of ownership of a hotel has to come before the city council, even if the name of the hotel isn’t changing, even if the employees aren’t changing,” he said. “If the ownership is changing, they have to file an application and come before the city council. Through that process, the rates are verified, and they cannot be hourly rates. All of the new owners have to come in. Their testimony is recorded, saying it’s not an hourly rate motel.”

By having the transfers of ownership come before the council, any crimes that occurred at the motel over the previous one to two years can be reviewed by councilmembers.

“If there’s a prostitution arrest there, that’s a red flag,” Strickland said. “If an owner comes in, testifies to us that it’s not going to be an hourly rate motel, and it turns into one, we can file suit to shut them down. But in my six-and-a-half years on the council, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a complaint that something we approved ended up being an hourly rate motel.”

Last year, a year-long Memphis Police Department investigation from the Organized Crime Unit called “Operation Bed Bug” temporarily closed seven local motels that had been declared public nuisances by District Attorney Amy Weirich.

The Bellevue Inn, the same motel that Campbell visited in his story, was one of the seven.

“It’s a quality of life issue. No matter where you live, what religion you are, what race you are, what gender you are — you want nice, clean, safe neighborhoods,” Strickland said. “We all want those same things. Prostitution violates that quality of life standard that we all want.”

Attention, motel owners: Allow people to sell sex or drugs at your motel and you might find the state selling your furniture. But don’t worry too much — the property could still be yours.

In a public auction last week, the state sold mattresses, TVs, and furnishings from the Garden Inn & Suites, the Royal Inn & Suites, the Bellevue Inn, and the Lamplighter Motor Inn. Once at auction, however, most of the items were purchased by the original owners.

All four motels were closed after a months-long investigation by the District Attorney’s Office found the motels tolerating prostitution and drug activity on their premises. The furnishings were auctioned after being forfeited to the state as a result of “public nuisance” closures. But the day after the auction, a judge ruled that the hotels would be allowed to reopen.

“The [property owners] were the built-in buyers. It was only natural for them to buy their own stuff back so they could get back into business,” said Ken Roebuck of Asset Recovery Auctions, who led auctions at each motel on Tuesday, May 6th.

Most items were sold by the room, and though people not affiliated with the motels purchased some miscellaneous items, such as tables and linens, the highest bidders tended to be the property owners themselves.

The furnishings from Garden Inn & Suites netted $18,500. The Royal Inn & Suites’ items brought in $20,500. Items from the Bellevue Inn and the Lamplighter Motor Inn earned $2,250 and $1,850, respectively.

Most of the money will go to cover the cost of the investigation at each motel. Any additional money will be given back to the property owners because the closures were civil, not criminal, proceedings.

“With a nuisance matter, we’re not allowed to seize the property,” said assistant district attorney John Campbell. “We’re only allowed to sell the items that were used to further the nuisance.”

Though it may seem strange that the property owners would ultimately receive the auction proceeds, Campbell said it’s unlikely that there will be money left after investigation costs are covered.

The District Attorney’s Office must use the funds to pay back the Memphis Police Department for use of undercover officers and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for inmate labor used to set up the materials for the auctions. The D.A.’s office has yet to determine how much money each agency will receive.

“For a couple of these motels, the money raised is nowhere near going to cover the cost of the investigation,” Campbell said. “I know the cost of the Bellevue’s investigation will cost way over the $2,250 [brought in at auction], and the same thing goes for the Lamplighter. The other two will probably get some money back.”

Campbell said the nuisance laws were set up so that taxpayers wouldn’t bear the burden of paying for the investigations into such matters. “If your property causes a problem and the police have to do an investigation, it makes sense from a taxpayer standpoint that the property owner should have to cover those kinds of costs. It’s a financial burden that will hopefully keep people from doing it again.”