It was a year ago this month that the state suspended the license of the Green Lake Motel after mold, exposed wiring, broken smoke detectors, and a host of other health and safety violations were discovered on the premises. As Aurora|Seattle already reported, in the aftermath of the closures of the Green Lake and three other area motels, the state legislature passed a bill which gives nontransient motel residents relocation assistance rights in the event that the motel is shut down by government action.
This is good, but we thought you might still be curious about what's been going on at the Green Lake Motel... Since the motel reopened, it has been renamed the Oak Tree Motel. Additionally, the motel recently removed its legendary motel sign (fortunately, some people have captured images of the sign for posterity's sake).
The Green Lake Motel Apartments, which are located behind the main part of the motel across Nesbit Avenue, were the site of most of the drama that came upon the motel's closure when some of the tenants refused to leave. These "apartments" are still vacant - likely because they are still in substandard condition, but also because the motel was never in fact licensed to operate their business on this property. The siding of some of the buildings has been removed, some power lines are hanging dangerously low, and a chain-link fence has been erected around the empty apartments. But don't be deceived by the seemingly abandoned area. Indeed, (presumably) no one is living in these former "apartments," but this stretch of Nesbit Avenue, just like many other Aurora side-streets, is home to a group of homeless people who are perhaps even more overlooked than their motel neighbors - those who live out of their trucks, vans, and campers.
The Oak Tree Motel seems to be carrying on just fine, and it seems to continue to serve a population - like many Aurora motels - that is stuck somewhere between low income/affordable housing and a shelter mattress, or just needs a place to stay for the night.
This entire area is clearly in transition and it will be interesting to see what the motel-formerly-known-as-the-Green Lake decides to do with its former "apartments," and the result this will have on the Aurora/90th/Nesbit area.
