(Patrick Lantrip/Memphis Daily News)

The Downtown Memphis Commission is seeking to have the Benchmark Hotel property at 164 Union Ave. declared a public nuisance.

The Shelby County Environmental Court will hold a hearing Thursday, Feb. 1, at 1:30 p.m. to determine whether the blighted hotel, located on the north side of Union west of South B.B. King Boulevard, should be considered a public nuisance under the Tennessee Neighborhood Preservation Act.

“The Benchmark occupies one of the most high-profile corners in Downtown Memphis,” Downtown Memphis Commission president and CEO Jennifer Oswalt said in a release announcing the legal action. “In addition to being an eyesore, the blighted property creates significant safety concerns.”

The court proceedings are the latest step in a lawsuit the DMC filed in November against the building’s owner, MNR Hospitality LLC, which is an affiliate of Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Epiq Hotels Inc.

MNR purchased the shuttered Benchmark in December 2012, more than a year after the 124-room hotel closed. In 2016, the company began demolishing the nearly 60-year-old building but ran into financing issues that stalled the project.

The DMC says the property currently isn’t fit for human occupancy or authorized use, and perpetuates various public health and safety concerns.

“There have been no substantial improvements made to the property in years, and local businesses are concerned with its appearance and other problematic conditions,” said Danny Schaffzin, an attorney representing the DMC.

The lawsuit also accuses MNR of failure to properly secure the property; prevalence of unsafe, hazardous and/or unsanitary conditions; and its promotion of urban blight and deterioration in Downtown Memphis.

If the Environmental Court issues a certificate of public nuisance, MNR will be required to produce a development plan and timeline for blight abatement.

MNR filed a $600,100 building permit application in December to renovate the 103,000-square-foot structure. That application came three months after signage went up along the hotel’s exterior stating the property would be redeveloped as a Fairfield Inn & Suites with a scheduled opening in 2019. The signage lists Cleveland Construction as the contractor and Pinnacle South as the project’s financier.

However, no tangible action has been taken to physically improve the site.