C Street Inn

C Street Inn
The building in 2013
Former names	Hotel Polhemus (1913–31) Cecil Hotel (1931–90s)
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Apartment hotel (SRO)[1]
Architectural style	Edwardian Commercial
Location	Core
Address	630–636 C St, San Diego, California, 92101, United States
Town or city	San Diego
Country	United States of America
Coordinates	32°43′01.1″N 117°09′31.6″W / 32.716972°N 117.158778°W / 32.716972; -117.158778
Completed	1913
Opened	1914 (1914)
Cost	$75,000
Owner	Jax Properties LLC
Landlord	Jack Shah Rafiq
Height
Top floor	6
Technical details
Structural system	Concrete and brick
Floor count	6 above ground; 1 basement level
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Arthur J. Hamilton Hamilton & Smith Brothers
Developer	Chaffey Concrete Construction Company
Known for	Class A fireproof
Other information
Number of rooms	100[2]

The C Street Inn, formerly known as the Hotel Polhemus and Cecil Hotel, is an affordable housing complex in downtown San Diego Core District that was vacated in 2022 due to egregious conditions. It was built in 1912 and opened in 1913 with 100 rooms.

Since the 2010s, the basement was utilized as a performance venue for the San Diego International Fringe Festival and it has been a filming location for independent films. In 2022, the city began a relocation process for all of the hotel's residents after it was vacated for its awful living environment.

Throughout the hotel's history, several minor fires caused damage, triggering temporary evacuations and it has been the location of numerous criminal incidents.

Arthur J. Hamilton was the building's architect who also designed the Robert E. Lee Hotel.^[3] The concrete building was erected in 1912 for $75,000. Hamilton & Smith Brothers planned for the first floor to be occupied by stores. Chaffey Concrete Construction Company was assigned to construct the building^[4] located at 630–636 C Street^[5][6][7] in Core, San Diego.^[8]

In 1913, Willis P. Polhemus owned the new building and the land it sat on.^[9][10] R.B. Thorbus was the proprietor and manager in 1914.^[9][11] Florence C. Thorbus ran the La Mesa School of Expression for Motion Pictures out of the hotel.^[12]

In January 1920, the Industrial Welfare Commission held a meeting at the hotel, focusing on minimum wages for employed women in San Diego.^[13] That same month librarian Mary Elizabeth Downey stayed at the Polhemus while in town to speak at the San Diego Public Library.^[14] In 1921, A.P. Wilkinson sold the hotel to George A. Brown and J. H. Sprague.^[15] In 1929, Hotel del Coronado room clerk Edgar P. Schiller was hired as manager after the Polhemus was leased to George W. Wood.^[16]

In 1931, the Cecil was relocated to the Polhemus building that was refurnished, redecorated, and expanded to 100 rooms from its former location.^[2] Roland Schneider was elected secretary and former secretary Whitten was elected treasurer.^[17] In 1934, Polhemus sold the property to an undisclosed buyer for $75,000.^[10]

In 1990, a fire started on the third floor, which 25 tenants were evacuated. A cigarette from a new tenant caused a blaze of $2,500 in damages.^[18]

In the 1990s, Hotel Cecil became known as the C Street Inn.^[18][19] In 1998, the inn was damaged from a fire and 40 people were evacuated due to a cigarette igniting a mattress on the fourth floor.^[20][21] In 1999, another fire broke out causing evacuation of the building. Police safely helped a man who jumped out of his hotel window to avoid smoke inhalation.^[19][22]

In 2009, the hotel faced a default.^[23] In 2014, a body was found by a maintenance worker after a guest complained of an odor. Police said it was not a suspicious death.^[24]

In 2022, the hotel had to be vacated for infestations of mold, rodents, fire hazards and horrid living conditions.^[25][26] The city and attorney Mara Elliott said owner Jack Shah Rafiq and his company Jax Properties LLC^[5][27][28] would be held responsible for covering the occupants' relocation costs that totaled $339,840.^[25][29] Rafiq appealed and claimed the city wanted low-income residents out of the area.^[1][30]

A fire marshal and police attempted to get people out in April, but that was unsuccessful after they spoke with Rafiq. Tenants received a 10 day eviction notice in May that was not followed up.^[31] Elliott announced in July that the building was a public nuisance and that residents would be relocated.^[27][32] Neil Rico was living in the building at the time and claimed the situation was unfair to tenants who relied on the living quarters there to meet their fixed and limited incomes.^[25] In August, a receiver was appointed control of the property.^[27]

The basement of the building has entrances from the main lobby of the hotel and a stairway from a business entrance on Seventh Ave.^[33] In the mid 2010s, the basement was used as a performance venue called Gray Area Multimedia,^[34][35] formerly known as Rosewood Five Studios at 1150 Seventh Ave.^[36][37][38] The San Diego International Fringe Festival occupied the space in 2017^[36] and Luke Pensabene managed the location.^[35][39]

Pensabene helped produce several independent films that recorded principal photography in the basement such as South of 8,^[40] The Phantom Hour,^[41] Friend of the World,^[35] Hacksaw,^[42] Touch,^[43] and Everybody Dies by the End.^[44]

In April 1916, after kicking several trash cans, Los Angeles resident William Haupt was arrested outside the building by Officer Tim Holcomb.^[45] Later that year, a man was arrested for attempting to steal a tire from the building clerk's automobile.^[46][47] In 1918, fifteen year old William Dowlar, who was a bellboy at the hotel, was arrested for stealing a $150 diamond, a kodak, and a fountain pen from a hotel guest.^[48]

In 1921, Franklin McGuire was arrested for shortly after stealing over $100 worth of clothes from a room in the building.^[49] In 1922, two armed men were arrested in downtown San Diego after briefly being pursued by police.^[50] They were wanted for holding up the building's hotel clerk R. W. Smith. During the attempted robbery, there was a scuffle and a gun was discharged but no one was injured. The thieves had previously made off with a suitcase with $150 in clothes from the nearby Panama Hotel,^[51] and were already wanted by police in Long Beach, California^[52] after robbing an apartment clerk of $45,^[53] and stealing a car in Sacramento.^[50][54] They were set for a bail of $1,000 each^[55] and were suspected in other recent thefts.^[56]

In November 1924, four inmates awaiting trial for robbery charges in Oklahoma, were staying in the building. Detectives were alerted and questioned them in their room, but the men were able to mislead law enforcement that they were ranch owners traveling the country. On January 16, 1925, they robbed over $3,000 from the nearby San Diego Pantages Theatre.^[57]

In 1931, night clerk P. W. Price was robbed at gunpoint on the second floor of the building.^[58] In 1932, night clerks of the building and nearby Churchill Hotel were robbed within an hour of each other.^[6]

In 1958, clerk Charles Sutter was robbed of $150 by the "Elevator Bandit" who forced him into the building's elevator and escaped while the elevator ascended.^[59]

In September 1978, the building was one of ten hotels in the downtown area raided by the San Diego Police Department. Policewomen went undercover as prostitutes, rented rooms, and made 15 arrests.^[60][61] That same month, Moses Franklin was arrested for assault in a room he shared with a teenage runaway from Tucson, Arizona.^[62]

In 1992, William Dean Short, a prison escapee from Muskogee, Oklahoma, was caught and arrested in the building.^[63] In 1999, Lt. Ray Sigwalt said San Diego police homicide was called after a 66 year old man died from a sixth floor fall into the building's air shaft.^[64]

In 2022, the city alleges that excessive criminal activity was reported in the building. Police responded 190 times over a three year period since May 2019, spending 465 hours to address burglaries, public intoxication, and other nuisances.^[65][66][32]