City takes ownership of Hotel Clovis

The City of Clovis on Monday took over ownership of the Hotel Clovis, a one-time glamorous building for those who remember the hotel as the city’s landmark of luxury.

And some residents would like to see the building — dilapidated and boarded up for years — return to its splendor, or at least to some level of operation.

The city foreclosed on the hotel after the Hispano Business Council didn’t pay property taxes or repay the roughly $30,000 the city spent two years ago to secure the building, which had become a public safety hazard, Clovis Mayor David Lansford said.

“If there’s someone interested in buying we want to make sure they are a qualified buyer, and that they have a plan and a means to carry out that plan,” Lansford said.

City Manager Ray Mondragon said he would like to find a buyer for the hotel but has no serious leads.

“In the past year we’ve had two people look at it but not serious,” he said. “(But) it will certainly be on the market.”

Lansford said he knows of no interest in buying the hotel, noting the building is more of a liability than an asset for the city because of its crumbling condition.

But a former chairman of the Hotel Clovis Committee said he wouldn’t be surprised to see some serious potential buyers come forward now that the city owns it.

“That building has a great potential,” said Dick Smith, a member of the Hotel Clovis Committee, which quit meeting recently because of the legal issues with the hotel.

The committee’s goal was to figure out a purpose for the hotel. Smith said the group went through a variety of possible scenarios for the building’s use, including but not limited to senior housing, retail space and office space for city and county officials.

Smith said there’s a bit more lure to invest in the building now with new federal tax incentives and a push to form a Metropolitan Redevelopment Area downtown, which could potentially allow for delayed payments, tax breaks and discounts for investors of the hotel.

A spokesperson for the Hispano Business Council could not be reached for comment Monday evening.