South Tucson’s eyesore motel finally coming down

After all these years, and all those fires, the remnants of the Spanish Trail Motel are finally being demolished and carted away.

A limited liability company with the encouraging name Spanish Revival LLC bought the property Aug. 18. It’s owned by Chris Huizenga, who leads Cottonwood Construction, which promptly began demolition and remediation work.

“They secured the permits, got what they needed,” South Tucson City Manager Veronica Moreno said. “The have to have a specialized team that is certified to remove the asbestos.”

“Everything happened very smoothly, very quickly. Before we knew it, they were moving ground and cleaning it up.”

The former eyesore motel is at 405 E. Benson Highway along Interstate 10 at South Fourth Avenue. It had an illustrious history as a local gathering place, with a nightclub and large dance floor, but it was abandoned in the 1990s.

Over the last five to 10 years, a series of fires had turned the old motel buildings largely into rubble. The property has changed hands repeatedly over recent years as South Tucson put pressure on owners to do something about the eyesore, filing repeated lawsuits, but the cost reared up as an obstacle.

Spanish Revival LLC bought the property Aug. 18 for $400,000 from the Asgard Group LLC, county property records say. That company bought the property in October 2025 for $225,000.

Huizenga could not be reached for comment this week on his plans for the property.