Fort Worth is cracking down on these crime-ridden properties
The days could finally be numbered for nuisance properties loathed by some Fort Worth residents.
At the Dec. 2 City Council work session, Code Compliance Director Brian Daugherty announced a new pilot program aimed at cleaning up properties identified as hotbeds of crime.
The crackdown will initially target the Eco Motel (3201 E. Lancaster Ave.), the Rocky’s I and II convenience stores (4250 and 4220 Hemphill St.) and the Sandy Oaks Apartments (1525 Sandy Lane.).
As Daugherty said during his presentation to the council, these properties have a history of crime and code violations that the city has tried to remediate.
Under the pilot program, named the Nuisance Enforcement Task Force (NET Force), the city will take a multipronged approach to address concerns, with involvement from the Police Department, the Fire Department, Code Compliance, Development Services, Environmental Services and city attorneys.
Enforcement will begin in January, and NET Force participants will provide an update to the City Council on the program’s effectiveness after six months. The pilot program will cost the city $3.5 million.
At the same time, Daugherty said, city attorneys are drafting an ordinance to designate properties like those mentioned above as habitual nuisances. Under the ordinance, property owners would be required to maintain minimum standards and pay a fee to offset the cost of city resources used to respond to violations.
Those owners who don’t meet the requirements could have their certificates of occupancy revoked.
The Eco Motel
At the Eco Motel alone, Daugherty’s report showed, there were 478 calls to police between Jan. 1, 2024, and Oct. 20, 2025. There were 16 documented offenses over that time, which included four aggravated assaults.
In July, a woman named Zeinabou Banks died of an overdose at the Eco Motel. There was another death reported on Nov. 20 after a man was found unresponsive in the hotel’s breezeway.
For years, residents along the East Lancaster corridor have tried to do something about the Eco Motel. Over the past 10 years, the city has twice sued the hotel’s owner, Shetal Patel and his company, RMP Hospitality, LLC, under nuisance abatement statutes. The city dismissed its claims in both cases after Patel made efforts to remedy crime and code violation issues.
In October, the Dallas-based nonprofit organization Act for Justice filed a lawsuit against Patel on behalf of two anonymous residents, alleging the conditions at the Eco Motel negatively impact public health and order.
The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction “sufficient to eliminate the nuisance.” If a judge grants the injunction, Patel would have to abate the criminal activity or potentially sell the property.
A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for January.
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 5:17 PM.