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The city of Jackson will move forward with its plan to file a lawsuit against the property owner of a previously demolished Hotel O to recover demolition expenses.
The lot for the former Hotel O off I-55 in northeast Jackson sits vacant on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 over a year after the building’s demolition. Credit: Aaron Lampley/Mississippi Today
City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday, authorizing City Attorney Drew Martin to proceed with filing. The city plans to investigate who currently holds interest in the property, and will file suit soon after the investigation wraps up.
The now vacant lot, off I-55 just north of Northside Drive, was the location of the long-abandoned Hotel O for years before the city demolished the building in 2025 for $240,000. While this is not the first hotel to be demolished by the city, it is the first time that the city is aiming to recover costs from an owner under Martin.
“We want to start making this a regular occurrence,” Martin told Mississippi Today. “We want people to know that if they leave their property in the condition that the city has to take responsibility for it, that the city is going to do everything it can to be compensated for the expenses.”
This is not the first legal battle that has occurred over the abandoned hotel. The city was previously stuck in a multi-year legal battle with the property’s owner, Noah Muthana, over the building’s demolition. Mississippi Today left a phone message and an email message Wednesday attempting to reach Muthana but received no response.
A shopping cart sits abandoned in the vacant lot of the former Hotel O off I-55 in northeast Jackson on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Credit: Aaron Lampley/Mississippi Today
Muthana failed to bring the hotel to code, leading to him being jailed in 2022 and a warrant issued for his arrest for missed court appearances in early 2024.
Despite alleged efforts from Muthana and his family to bring the building to code, Municipal Judge Jeffrey Reynolds ordered that the city demolish the building in June 2024, declaring it a menace to public health. Municipal Judge Henry Clay gave a similar ruling months later.
The City Council sided with the rulings in a 6-0 vote in September 2024. Cornerstone Enterprises demolished the former hotel in February 2025.
Martin said he’s focused on pursuing litigation against the owners of properties for which the city has incurred some cost to address, adding that the city ultimately wants to look at all of its cases of abandoned properties.
“The more money we can recover on behalf of the city, the more we can repurpose that money to clean up more properties,” Martin said.
