For years, Johnson’s Greenbrier Motel on Stockton Boulevard was known as a hub for prostitution, drugs and other illegal activity.
Now, the once-troubled property has been reborn as the Greens Hotel, and its transformation highlights how a neighborhood can work with City of Sacramento leaders and staff to affect real change and improve a community.
The Greens Hotel celebrated its grand opening with an open house Saturday, Nov. 16. Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Council members Jay Schenirer and Eric Guerra, City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood and hotel owner Dhruv Shah attended the event, which included community members, businesses owners and hotel guests.
“This is really a wonderful day, another step along the way in the renaissance of Stockton Boulevard,” said Schenirer, whose district includes the hotel. “I want to say thank you to the people who stepped up and said, ‘We’re willing to take a risk and we’re willing to do something that will improve this neighborhood.'”
The Greens Hotel marks another success story for the City of Sacramento’s Justice for Neighbors program, which works to establish partnerships among the City Attorney’s Office, the Sacramento Police Department, Code Enforcement and the community to promptly and efficiently eliminate or reduce threats to public health and safety in city neighborhoods.
Sac PD referred the Greenbrier Motel site to the JFN program because of the high volume of calls it had received about illegal activity at the property dating back several years. From 2013 to 2018, Sac PD received 572 citizen-initiated calls for service regarding the Greenbrier Motel. There were 672 police-initiated calls to the address during that time.
Lead by the City Attorney’s Office, the JFN team filed a drug abatement lawsuit against the property and its owners. As a result of the litigation, the motel was put into receivership and the owners eventually decided to sell the property.
Taking over in 2018, Shah and his partners have spent nearly $1 million renovating the classic motor lodge, transforming it into a beautiful new hotel that fits the neighborhood and is a positive part of the community. Shah also operates a Greens Hotel on Del Paso Boulevard.