SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — A video is circulating on TikTok that shows vandals ransacking the inside of the former Embassy Suites hotel in Southfield on Franklin Road.
The people can be seen throwing furniture into the atrium. It's more extensive than the vandalism seen on the outside.
The city of Southfield is in an ongoing legal battle with the property owner Southfield Ventures LLC.
Resident James Dillard tells 7 Action News whether he’s on Franklin Road or Northwestern Highway or 696, he drives by the blight every single day.
“Most people that does that kind of stuff, they don’t live out here," he said.
“People, they tag stuff. They think it’s funny, but it’s not because you messin’ up the property and then you makin’ the neighborhood look bad," Dillard said.
He added, “They come out here, destroy property and they go back home. Then we the ones that gotta live with it and see it every day. Ya know what I’m sayin? It’s just not right.”
The city said the judge ruled favorably when requiring the property owner to put up a fence. However, it’s not secure. For example, one part of the fencing is wide open.
City administration tells 7 Action News it is looking to have the fencing improved. A representative for the city said he couldn’t go on camera since there's ongoing litigation, but he said the owner continues to be cited for code and building violations that are extensive.
To make matters worse, online court records show the property owner filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and is delinquent on property taxes. According to those records, the owner owes $305,000 to the Southfield treasury and just short of $1.4 million to the Oakland County treasury. There's also a private equity fund that says it's owed $3,000,000 for a loan.
To get any significant movement on this blight, 7 Action News is told city administration’s hands are tied and they have to wait out the legal process.
To get the property owner's side on all of these issues, 7 Action News called the number listed for the person representing Southfield Ventures LLC and left a voicemail. As of news time, our call hasn't been returned.
Dillard said, “I don't know their situation but to me, if you got a building like that, to me, you should have at least have some security watching over your building. So it don’t get defamed like that, ya know. People don’t wanna pay for security. So that kind of stuff happens,"
“I wish they could catch the people that’s doing it," he said regarding the vandals.
