BATON ROUGE - This year, the City-Parish has torn down at least 160 blighted properties compared to the 46 demolished in 2024. Even by tripling the number, the city continues to work through a list of blight complaints and properties that qualify for condemnation. 

One such property is the OYO Hotel on Mead Road in Baton Rouge, where nearly every room of the building has been ransacked and vandalized. The property spanning four and a half acres, visible from I-12, has been left unsecured creating a large eyesore in the city. 

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for the Department of Public Works William Daniel describes the look as "a sad situation."

"It was a valuable property that was allowed to go into decline," Daniel said.

Many rooms still have beds and other furniture inside. Shattered glass covers the ground and the second floor. Several dozen tires have been dumped in the back parking lot. 

The City-Parish took the property owner, Rajesh Patel of Baton Rouge Hoteliers, LLC, to blight court in November. The city fined them $900 and gave them 60 days to clean up. Baton Rouge Hoteliers stopped paying on a $3.6 million loan in 2021 and hasn't paid the property taxes.

It was leased to a group out of state, which also stopped paying, claiming they were sold a "bad deal." The property was purchased in a September sheriff's sale to Bloom 24, LLC. An officer based in Delaware said, "No comment" when asked about the property plans. 

The city says the shuttered OYO Hotel can't stay the way it is and plans to cover the cost of boarding up the property, something that could cost anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000. 

"We're diverting income that we need for other places because people are not being accountable," said Daniel. 

The city has plans to change that and make people take responsibility by increasing fines and blight offenses. To recoup the costs of boarding up the OYO Hotel, the city will place a lien on the property. It will remain boarded up until someone else brings it back into commerce.