Thirteen residents remain in Otis

Fences are up around the Otis Hotel, but not all the tenants have left.

Spokane’s Human Services director, Jerrie Allard, said that as of Friday, 13 residents had yet to leave. Of those, two will sign leases next week, five were expected to go to motels Friday or next week, and three were expected to leave by the end of next week. That leaves three residents that she said were “difficult to place.”

The Otis Hotel is one of three low-rent apartment buildings along West First Avenue that are in the process of being converted to more upscale housing or other uses. Low-income housing advocates have said Otis residents were the most difficult to find new housing for because some have convictions for sex offenses.

RenCorp, the investment group that owns the Otis, has not announced its intentions with the building. An attempt to reach RenCorp principal owner Chris Batten was unsuccessful.

Dave Bilsland, an advocate for the homeless who has worked on the Otis relocation, said Friday that he is concerned about the fences because they force the remaining residents to jaywalk to get to the entrance. He also voiced concern about a fire exit located within the fenced area.

Eldon Brown, the city’s acting engineering services director, said RenCorp has a permit to have the fences and block the sidewalks so remodeling can begin. He said he examined the site late Friday afternoon, and it appears there is enough room along the edge of the sidewalk to get to the entrance without jaywalking. In the event of a fire, he said, the fences easily could be pushed aside.