Notorious crime-ridden Merced motel torn down. ‘It was slumlord material at its finest’
A longtime local hotbed for crimes like illegal drug use, prostitution and sex trafficking is no more in the City of Merced.
The former Siesta Motel on West 16th Street was notorious for harboring illicit activities that sparked several police crackdowns throughout the years that failed to result in permanent change. That is until recently, when the property was flattened.
Now, Merced officials are hopeful public safety and economic development can improve in that area on the edge of downtown on 16th Street, between R and V streets.
The building’s demolition was a long time coming. Although a section of the motel still remained standing as of Thursday, the bulk of it had been razed.
Merced’s city attorney filed a petition for nuisance abatement against the motel’s owners in May 2021, stating that the site contained “numerous property maintenance violations” and was a dangerous public nuisance.
“It was slumlord material at its finest,” Merced Mayor Matt Serratto said, noting rampant issues with pests and exposed wiring. “It was in bad shape.”
History of code violations, crime
Although public safety will be an ongoing effort around downtown Merced, Serratto said he believes no longer having to patrol the Siesta Motel will be a boon to the city’s police department.
The Siesta Motel has been on local law enforcement’s radar for years, with authorities completing more than 100 crime and complaint reports at the property between 2011 and 2014.
A prostitution sting in 2013 put nearly three dozen people behind bars. The following year, the District Attorney’s Office in 2014 filed a “nuisance abatement action” under the California Red Light Abatement Act against the motel’s owners.
In 2017, a Merced County judge issued a permanent injunction against the motel’s owners and operators, requiring them to take steps to end years of assaults, drug crimes and robberies for an area prosecutors described as “a hub of prostitution.”
The motel owners were ordered to fulfill a series of improvements aimed at ending crime at the property, including maintaining an on-site manager at all times, prohibiting room rentals of less than 12 hours, terminating rentals for illegal activity and maintaining a “do not rent list.”
The owners were also required to maintain “ample and abundant high intensity light” and pay costs to the city police of $5,345 for “investigation and remediation of the nuisance conditions on the property.”
Motel employees had also expressed frustration with the illegal activities taking place in and around the motel, voicing exasperation at the ongoing crime.
Still, crimes and code violations persisted in the years since, often taking place openly and in plain sight. Although law enforcement kept an eye on the area, efforts were targeted more toward management than complete eradication, Serratto said.
“The amount of crime and the resources devoted to stopping it, it’s just impossible to muster all the resources to do it,” Serratto said of law enforcement’s longtime efforts at the motel.
The motel’s saga came to a close due to the city’s petition for nuisance abatement last year, which kicked off the series of actions that led to the motel’s recent demolition.
Plans for the future
City officials say there’s no specific plans for the site of the torn down motel yet.
The general area of the city, however, is being eyed for the future high-speed rail hub that will eventually link several transportation networks together.
As the city wraps up its major updates to downtown Merced, the vision for the former Siesta Motel area is part of a greater plan to improve major thoroughfares including 13th and 16th streets, as well as Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Yosemite Avenue.
Officials are expecting to make zoning changes that will make these city regions higher density, mixed use and more accessible for pedestrians and bikes.
“I think there’s a lot of potential for that area,” Serratto said.
