ADRIAN — A key step toward providing more stable, temporary housing to displaced Riverview Terrace tenants was completed Friday.

The city of Adrian closed Friday on the purchase of the Adrian Inn, 1575 W. Maumee St., which has been one of three area motels where about 100 residents of the condemned apartment building are staying. The motel will serve as transitional housing until longer-term housing solutions are found, a news release from the city said.

The city commission agreed Aug. 1 to buy the motel for $800,000, with the money coming from the city's capital projects fund. The motel had been for sale since before the city declared it a public nuisance in June 2021 because of repeated complaints of criminal behavior there. The city had been involved in litigation with the previous owners since the nuisance declaration.

The city bought the inn because of a shortage of available, affordable housing in Lenawee County and neighboring areas. This is at least the second time this year in Michigan that a motel has been bought to provide transitional housing for a group of people who had trouble finding affordable housing. Short's Brewing Co. in Bellaire bought a motel in April to provide housing for its seasonal staff because of a shortage of affordable housing near the northern Michigan community.

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There are 69 rooms available for tenants, Adrian City Commissioner Greg Elliott told the commission during its premeeting Monday. That, however, is not enough for all of the tenants who have not been able to find new housing on their own. The city and housing agencies working to find places for the Riverview Terrace residents have been placing people at the Adrian Inn first when possible, but others are staying at the Super 8 in Adrian and the Tecumseh Inn.

The city's emergency operations center continues to meet regularly and coordinate with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Housing Help of Lenawee, Lenawee County Department on Aging, and several other local agencies to assist the residents with regard to housing and other needs, the news release said. The Department on Aging, The Daily Bread, The Salvation Army, and God’s Bread Basket are collaborating to ensure that residents have access to prepared, nutritious meals in both Adrian and Tecumseh.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority has been paying for the recent motel stays. Riverview Terrace's management company paid for the initial motel stays, including two weeks at the new hotel at Splash Universe in Dundee.

People staying at the Adrian Inn will eventually be expected to pay rent, Elliott has said. They all were paying rent at Riverview Terrace, and the city will have expenses to maintain the Adrian Inn.

After long-term housing solutions have been found for the Riverview Terrace tenants, the city could sell the inn for the same $800,000 it paid to a hotel operator that has expressed interest in the property, Elliott told the commission on Aug. 1.

“We will do with it what we wanted to see done with that property, which is turning it into a national chain that has high standards and can be an asset to the community,” Elliott said then.

Riverview Terrace is an independent-living community for people who are 62 or older or who are permanently disabled. It was condemned and its approximately 175 tenants evacuated July 25 after a 6- to 9-inch gap between the floor and a wall was found in a third-floor apartment while carpet was being removed. Inspections found several more cracks throughout the building. Officials have said it appears the exterior walls are separating from the interior structure of the building.

City officials have been made aware of a report issued by the second engineering firm that inspected the Riverview Terrace building several weeks ago, the release said, but as of Friday afternoon that report had not been provided to the city.