BC13 Eyewitness News starts now. >> New tonight, neighbors in West Houston say they want something done about an abandoned bank branch. They say the old Wells Fargo on Hillcraftoft between Westimer and High Meadow has become a haven for squatters and drugs. As ABC 13’s Luke Jones reports, their concerns are getting renewed attention tonight after police found a body inside. Once a Wells Fargo, now unofficially the Hotel Hill.
Unauthorized check-ins through unconventional paths almost daily neighbors say. And this morning, one of the guests was found dead. Police haven’t said how, who, or how long he or she might have been there. >> Me, my name’s Ghost. >> This man hoping against hope.
It’s not anyone he knows. >> I was like just in there with a couple of friends. I I had just picked up a a a friend. She uh stayed the night at my apartment. Um and uh she took off this morning, but like yeah, she was she lives here.
>> While police haven’t officially ruled on the possibility of foul play, investigators with the homicide unit were here for hours today, drawing this man’s curiosity. >> I know the owner for the property, so what’s going on? But he don’t tell me, tell me, hey, you have to leave, but I smell something bad. >> And neighbors say they’ve been seeing bad stuff for years. We found 27 311 complaints about the building since Wells Fargo moved out in September 2023, many for standing water, but several for squatting as far back as February 2024.
>> A lot of people were living here, but a lot of people were like doing drugs and a lot of people were like stealing stuff and getting guns and being crazy and maybe shooting people. >> A 311 entry from June 2024 notes the homeless camp is getting larger. Meanwhile, plans to convert the building into a gas station have yet to materialize. >> Can police go in there and order people to leave? >> Yes, they can.
And they have. >> Last year, Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas says fed up neighbors reached out to her. >> We escalated using every tool. >> She says she got the property cited and the owner, Puani Properties, responded by erecting a fence, but is clearly not keeping everyone out. We’re overextending city resources when the private owner of this building should have made sure that this was secure and had 247 security on site.
Now, we did reach out to the property owner, but so far he hasn’t returned our message. The city, meanwhile, tells us they have an active case against the property for high weeds and standing water. Nothing about squatting, though. They plan to send inspectors out here Monday to take a look at things from the street. They say they’ll need a warrant to go past this fence.
Live in West Houston tonight, Luke Jones, ABC13 Eyewitness News.
