Alpine Motel, site of deadly fire, gets new owners with big plans

The tract of the deadliest residential occurrence successful Las Vegas metropolis past is slated for a caller beginning.

New owners of the Alpine Motel Apartments program to crook the boarded-up spot into modern workplace apartments. It’s been astir 2 years since an early-morning occurrence successful the downtown building killed six residents and injured 13.

Henderson nonmigratory John Burnette, 1 of the buyers, said occurrence information is of paramount value successful the project.

“We’re installing each caller occurrence sprinklers, treating it similar a caller build,” helium said.

The Alpine’s erstwhile proprietor and landlord, Adolfo Orozco, has present sold astir each of what was erstwhile a multimillion-dollar portfolio of 2 twelve section properties that he, his woman and their 4 companies owned astatine the clip of the fire.

Burnette’s company, DLUX Investments, on with Las Vegas-based Apogee Capital Holdings and Ambleside Properties successful Canada, paid $1.9 cardinal for the three-story spot and its adjacent parking batch successful August, spot records show.

Burnette said the caller DLUX Lofts volition support the Alpine’s ceramic masonry, constructed successful 1972, but it volition diagnostic wholly renovated interiors. He said the apartments should beryllium unfastened by oregon earlier aboriginal 2023.

“It’ll beryllium 42 units of surviving abstraction that downtown desperately needs,” helium said.

Burnette said he’s portion of a radical of investors that person purchased and renovated 3 adjacent Las Vegas flat complexes successful caller years. Revive Arts District, Revive Medical District and Groov Studios diagnostic colorful murals connected their facades, and Burnette said helium wants DLUX Lofts to person 1 honoring the Alpine fire’s victims.

“We privation to marque definite we bash it close and memorialize, not forget, what happened astatine the Alpine,” helium said.

The Alpine caught fire earlier dawn connected Dec. 21, 2019. Investigators aboriginal determined the deadly blaze originated from an unattended stovetop wrong a portion successful the mediate of the building’s first-floor hallway. The nonstop origin of the occurrence remains unknown, but it was ruled accidental. Dozens of low-income tenants were displaced.

A Review-Journal investigation revealed that the Alpine, an extended-stay hotel, had a past of occurrence codification violations. The paper besides reported that an audible occurrence alarm had been silenced a period earlier the deadly blaze, and that the spot had not been inspected by occurrence officials successful the 32 months starring up to the fire.

After the fire, metropolis officials recovered much than 40 imaginable occurrence codification violations astatine the Alpine, including a rear exit doorway that had been bolted shut. Investigators described the gathering arsenic “squalid.”

Residents alleged their units’ heaters and fume detectors did not work, among different unsafe surviving conditions. They utilized ovens and stovetops to lukewarm units. The spot besides tested affirmative for asbestos aft the fire, according to tribunal filings.

Orozco and erstwhile Alpine manager Malinda Mier each look six charges of involuntary manslaughter, on with aggregate different felony charges, stemming from the fire.

Orozco’s erstwhile empire

Orozco, who besides goes by Adolfo Orozco-Garcia, began amassing his existent property portfolio successful 2004, erstwhile helium was moving successful Northern California arsenic a second-grade teacher. He bought the Alpine successful 2013 for $805,000, nether his institution Las Vegas Dragon Hotel LLC.

At the clip of the fire, spot records amusement Orozco, his woman Erika Ayala and companies tied to them owned 24 properties successful the Las Vegas Valley. All but 2 of those properties person been sold since the fire, records show.

Orozco’s household inactive owns their 6,250-square-foot mansion successful Las Vegas, which they bought for astir $1.5 cardinal successful 2017, arsenic good arsenic a condominium. A four-bedroom location successful North Las Vegas, owned by Orozco since 2007, was sold astatine foreclosure auction successful November.

The remaining portfolio of single-family homes, flat buildings and 4 hotels has sold for astir $9.7 cardinal combined, much than treble what records amusement they were initially purchased for.

Las Vegas Dragon Hotel LLC sold the Starlite Motel for $1.4 cardinal this May, aft buying it for $1 cardinal successful 2016.

Last twelvemonth the institution besides sold the Economy Motel and Casa Blanca Hotel for much than $3.1 cardinal combined. It purchased the properties successful 2012 and 2015 for little than $1.6 cardinal combined.

The Casa Blanca successful North Las Vegas present operates arsenic a Studio 6, a concatenation of extended-stay hotels operated by Motel 6.

Last year, arsenic portion of a suit against Orozco, erstwhile District Judge Rob Bare ruled Orozco needed a tribunal bid to merchantability immoderate assets worthy much than $25,000.

District Judge Carli Kierny successful June permitted the Alpine’s sale. Orozco volition not person entree to the sale’s proceeds until the decision of the lawsuit.

The wealth would beryllium utilized successful the lawsuit of a judgement against Orozco that isn’t satisfied by security money, said lawyer Robert Murdock, whose lawsuit Christian Spangler suffered a terrible encephalon wounded during the fire.

All the attorneys progressive successful the lawsuit agreed to the merchantability of the Alpine, Murdock said. They’ve besides had to hold connected presumption of immoderate spot income that Orozco made since the court-ordered injunction.

“It was amended for everyone — mostly our clients — to let that merchantability to instrumentality place, arsenic agelong arsenic there’s extortion of the money,” helium said.

Dozens of erstwhile residents person filed lawsuits, galore of which person been consolidated.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson astatine sdavidson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj connected Twitter.

Contact Briana Erickson astatine berickson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE connected Twitter.