AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - Editor's note: The story below was originally written in December of 2022. While the history detailed is accurate, the cases described were subsequently adjudicated. In 2024, the federal government closed its case against Rucci and the California Palms and agreed to return assets seized. Rucci has subsequently asked that the federal government also unseal the affidavit in support of that seizure, arguing that it's not sufficient to just return the funds, since the government's actions contributed to the closure of the facility. 

If you are one of the more than 20,000 drivers who travel along Route 46 near Interstate 80 each day, you may have noticed that the faux palm trees that once adorned the former California Palms Addiction Recovery Campus are now gone, as is the business that has operated there since 2017.

The big letters on top of the former hotel that spelled out "California Palms' have also been removed, and the gable over the entrance now has a sign reading "Square One Health" at the building located at 1051 North Canfield Niles Road.

Square One has been renovating the building, planning to operate it as a residential treatment facility offering services to treat all aspects of addiction.

Already operating in Ashtabula, Ohio, Square One Health offers what it characterizes as a "holistic" approach to treatment, including the 12-step recovery program, considering the environmental, lifestyle, health, educational, and psychological factors of addiction.

Once it opens, Square One will offer inpatient detox, outpatient services, men's and women's programs, relapse prevention, and wellness/fitness programs.

HISTORY

Constructed as a hotel in 1972, the Economy Inn, as it was once called, once housed an adult entertainment club known as the "Go Go Cabaret" that featured exotic dancers.

 

 

In 2009 police raided the Go-Go, arresting nineteen dancers on charges including prostitution and drug distribution.

Sebastian Rucci, co-owner of the club, represented the dancers challenging the charges and fought a challenge to the cabaret's liquor license.

In 2014, Rucci converted the building into "Hotel California," which was marked by installing $100,000 worth of fake palm trees adorning the property.

 

 The people claiming to own the rights to the name "Hotel California" filed a federal trademark lawsuit, and in 2015 the name of the business was changed to California Palms Hotels and Suites.

In 2017, Rucci announced that he would convert the hotel into a 200-bed drug recovery center which became the California Palms Addiction Recovery Campus.

In October 2019, a judge ordered the addiction recovery center to vacate the property over a $4 million debt owed to Los Angeles-based lending firm Pender Capital.

California Palms was raided by Federal agents in October 2021 as part of a healthcare-related investigation. The government seized more than $600,000 from the business's bank accounts, and no charges have been filed in connection with that raid.

 

 This past April, Pender Capital took ownership of the building.

Pender sold the building in September to a New Jersey firm, which sold the building again two weeks later for $7,850,000.