Skip to main content
Address: 3310 SE 82nd Ave.
Year built: 1972
Square footage: 15,300
Market value: $2.45 million
Owners: Jayeshlal Mistry, Thakur Mistry and Prakash Panchal
Property tax owed: $143,732
How long it’s been delinquent: 4 years
What those taxes could buy: Two mental health crisis workers for Portland Street Response
Why it’s delinquent: Guests didn’t pay, either.
Even in a block of the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood that defines “gritty,” Best Value Inns stands out—it’s the kind of worn-out refuge where you’d stay only after exhausting all your other options.
The parking lot resembles a junkyard, strewn with vehicles on their last legs. A hopeful sign nearing antique status unironically promises “Color TV.” That was a big deal in 1972, when the place was built.
The owners’ representative, Rifkin Patel, blamed challenging business conditions for nonpayment. “We are planning to pay the taxes,” Patel says, in an email with unusual fondness for exclamation points. “This may take a little bit of time since we are playing catchup!”
The pandemic wreaked havoc. “We had guests staying at [the] hotel using all the rooms’ accommodation and unable to pay us the rent due to lockdown and lack of work!” Patel says, adding that the owners did not get any rent assistance from state or local agencies even as things got tough. “We did have a lot of issues with graffiti, frequent breaking into business and parking lot camping and tenting!” Patel says.
But he sees better days ahead: “We are now finally getting to the point where we can start paying [the back taxes] down!”
