Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham announced in a Wednesday night town hall meeting that Sage Investment Group, which purchased the Motel 6 last year and, later, the OYO Hotel, has now purchased the King Oscar Motel, located on Eckerson Road in Centralia.
“My understanding is that it’s going to be left as a hotel,” Denham said. “They’re going to remodel the hotel to make it look better … When I see things, then is when I start believing them, but my understanding is that’s what’s supposed to happen.”
According to city staff, Sage has submitted a new business license for the King Oscar, which is how they learned of the hotel’s apparent sale.
The Washington state Department of Revenue’s website also shows a business license issued on Oct. 17 at the King Oscar’s address for a company with the same directors as Sage Investment Group, LLC.
The group’s public relations firm has not responded to The Chronicle’s request for confirmation of the sale.
Almost exactly one year ago, The Chronicle reported Sage’s purchase of the Motel 6 with plans to turn the building into “nice, affordable” studio apartments, according to one co-owner. However, co-owner Ross Hubbard, claiming naivety, the company this month asked the Centralia City Council to rezone the area around the hotel, which is currently only set to have hotels turned into permanent supportive housing rather than regular apartments.
Originally, Hubbard told the council it was intent to establish permanent supportive housing.
The council denied the business’s request in a 6-1 vote twice. Councilor Max Vogt was the sole “yes” vote, citing his tours of Sage properties in Tacoma.
He added Sage planned to rent apartments out between $900 and $975 per month, with a packaged utility charge of $150 per month.
Despite Sage’s history of high rent rate increases at other properties it has managed, Hubbard said rent increases would only go by inflation rates.
In Wednesday night’s town hall with the police department, attendees expressed worries of increased crime once the Motel is transformed into permanent supportive housing.
Similar concerns were expressed in Tuesday night’s city council meeting, though the council said it is up to developers whether the low-barrier form of housing was established in Centralia.
One resident in that area, Dave Pavletich, currently lives next to the old Motel 6 and in a letter to the council said while crime commonly occurred before Sage purchased, he believed it would increase “10-fold” with new residents.
“If this proposal passes, I would hold you accountable when my children are exposed to criminals, drug dealers, hypodermic needles and sex offenders in their own backyard,” Pavletich said.
Denham, on the other hand, said during Wednesday's town hall that before the former Motel 6 and former OYO Hotel were purchased, crime was already high in both areas.
“It was bad,” he said.
With the recent clearing out of the nearby homeless encampment Blakeslee Junction, he said he hopes when both the Motel 6 and OYO are finally converted, crime will go down.
Per state law, permanent supportive housing is defined as subsidized housing with no limit on lease-length and prioritizes helping people who need support services to remain housed, including people on low incomes or who have disabilities.
It removes many traditional barriers that keep some people from renting including criminal background checks and income requirements and allows them the possibility of successfully transitioning into more stable housing options.
Permanent supportive housing also includes easy access to support services for residents to use to ensure they avoid criminal behavior and falling back into homelessness.
According to a 2016 study on the housing form in Pierce, Douglas and Chelan counties by the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), those utilizing permanent supportive housing were “significantly less likely to be arrested for a felony offense than their matched peers.”
Additionally, during the Centralia Police Department’s town hall Wednesday, staff said residents of the housing would be charged and arrested the same way as anyone else who commits crimes.
Another resident, Jan Nontell, spoke in support of the new form of housing during the city council meeting.
“They’re moms, they’re kids, they are disabled veterans, people just on the edge of homelessness that need it,” Nontell said of the people who benefit from permanent supportive housing, later adding, “These folks need to be in an area where they can access stores and pharmacies and bus lines.”
