Days Inn contaminated by drug manufacturing, Lacey Planning Commission learns
A former motel in Lacey that is set to be used as a homeless shelter will have to be thoroughly cleaned because of drug manufacturing that previously took place at the site near Marvin Road and Interstate 5, the Lacey Planning Commission learned on Tuesday.
The property, which was a Days Inn, has been acquired by the Low Income Housing Institute in Seattle as part of the state’s rights-of-way initiative, which aims to move those living alongside the freeway into housing.
LIHI acquired the property in late January for $14.8 million, according to Thurston County Assessor’s Office data. The 118-unit motel will be converted into a shelter to serve 120 people experiencing homelessness in Thurston County. This includes singles, couples and people with pets, The Olympian previously reported.
During commissioner reports at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Mark Mininger asked who was responsible for the growing homeless encampment west of Sleater-Kinney Road, across the street from Hobby Lobby.
Planning Commission Manager Ryan Andrews said the encampment is on state Department of Transportation property in Olympia.
“We’re essentially in discussions with both DOT and the city of Olympia and others to hopefully get that cleaned up in the near future, but it’s outside our direct control,” Andrews said.
Once the Days Inn shelter opens, some of those camp residents will be eligible to move into the shelter, he said.
However, the shelter is now expected to open in late spring because of the damage done by previous drug manufacturing, Andrews said. He told the commission that LIHI encountered the same thing with a Tacoma-based property on Hosmer Street, but that the drug manufacturing at the Days Inn was “much worse.”
“Their amount of remediation was going to be far higher than in Tacoma and they (LIHI) didn’t have a good estimate of how long that would take,” Andrews told the commission. “Our best estimate is probably May, give or take, because of the issues associated with the building.”
Before the property at 8200 Quinault Drive NE was acquired, it was well-known by Lacey police. Former City Manager Scott Spence told the Lacey City Council last year that the site generated more than 400 9-1-1 calls per year, compared to 60-70 a year for a similar hotel in the area.
The property was one of the largest generators of police calls in the city, Police Chief Robert Almada said.
Thurston County received $37 million for the rights-of-way program, of which $20 million was earmarked for the hotel acquisition and site setup. An additional $4 million will be used for two years of site operations, The Olympian previously reported.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
