Britney Vernon, a mother of two, has lived in the Midtown Flats apartments for nearly two years. The complex is located next to a small strip mall near Skelly Drive and Yale Avenue.
Across the street from Vernon’s apartment sit two shuttered extended stay hotels: OYO and Studio Star. They’ve been closed for a year and have since been declared nuisance properties. Now the city has earmarked one-time funding of $840,000 in its 2026-27 budget to demolish the hotels.
“Since we moved in, the things I have seen, I don’t let my kids walk around by themselves because of the activity that goes on over there,” Vernon said.
The hotels are an eyesore, she says, but it gets worse. Firefighters have responded to a string of fires there since December.
In the most recent fire, part of one of the hotels collapsed as the flames burned holes into upper floors, according to Andy Little, a spokesman with the Tulsa Fire Department. The building had no fire suppression or alarm systems and was difficult to enter through barricaded entrances.
With repeated complaints from neighbors and increasing safety concerns, the properties became such a public nuisance that the city had to get involved, according to Karen Gilbert, the Tulsa City Councilor who represents the area.
“It used to be a Hilton back in the ‘80s. And that’s where a lot of people coming through Tulsa used to stay. So it was a very nice hotel, but through different ownerships it fell into disrepair,” she said.
Today the hotels are marked with graffiti, wood boards cover the doors, grass grows through the windows and a gate surrounds the lots.
A string of violations and inspections followed the blighted hotels, some dating back to 2018, when Studio Star Hotel operated as the Knights Inn. Many of the older code violations were standard, involving things like upkeep of the hotel. But increasingly hazardous conditions led to more serious violations last summer.
Records show the properties were cited for illegal water connections, illegal installation of barbed wire and other violations.
Tulsa County property records list the owner as 4740 South Braden LLC, with a California mailing address but no name attached. A 2025 civil lawsuit filed in Tulsa County identifies the LLC’s owner as Mohsin Javed, a real estate investor. The Flyer reached out to Javed four times for this story but did not receive a response prior to publication.
“There has not been any upkeep on the property owner’s side of it. The upkeep responsibility has fallen on the City of Tulsa, unfortunately,” Gilbert said.
The city’s main goal right now is keeping the properties secure, but people still find their way inside of the buildings, she added.
Once a property is declared a chronic nuisance, the property owner must deliver a safety plan to the city. If the demolition process is completed, the owner must pay the amount of money invested back to the city.
“That’s why with the lien, we may be using taxpayer dollars to destroy it,” Gilbert said. “When the property is sold, we get that money back.”
The city’s new fiscal year started July 1, meaning officials can take steps to proceed with the demolition, but Gilbert says that doesn’t mean they will. The councilor says the city has heard from a prospective buyer who is considering repurposing the property for housing.
Heidi Blackshaw is a regional supervisor with LynCo Properties, which owns the Midtown Flats where Vernon lives. She says she supports demolishing the properties, if that’s what the city ultimately decides.
“We take a stance that is in the best interest for the community. I assume the city has done their due diligence in making that determination,” she said.
Vernon thinks the property needs to go.
“There are lots of kids over here, there are lots of drugs going on,” Vernon said. “If there is constantly going to be drug traffic going on then that is going to put the wrong idea for these kids.”
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