BAY CITY, MI — The deal is done. A decision on a brand is still underway.
Michigan businessman Dante Bacall on Friday, Aug. 22, closed on the former Holiday Inn and Three Palms hotel property, 501 Saginaw St., in downtown Bay City after winning an Auction.com sale last month for $1.025 million.
Bacall's realtor Floyd Black, a broker at Detroit-based Re/Max Vision, confirmed the closing, saying there were a few hangups along the way with the hotel property's former owner, specifically with the proration of taxes on the property.
"We're done with that now, and it's ours," Black said.
He said Bacall hopes to make a trip to Bay City this week to further evaluate the property and begin making decisions on a hotel flag for the property and what type of restaurant to include inside of it.
Black said he has done business with the Thomas Hospitality Group, which operates about 30 restaurants in Metro Detroit area, and might reach out to them for restaurant ideas.
The hotel's main floor was previously the home of Rudy J's Diner.
Bacall owns Choice Hotel franchises across the state, including a Comfort Inn near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Black has said a "total redevelopment" will take place after the deal is finalized.
"On our tour of the property, we saw that the rooms are very dated, so we plan to do a complete renovation, in addition to some very interesting things with the restaurant space," he said.
Other Choice Hotel brands include, Clarion, Quality, Sleep Inn and Cambria Suites.
Today, the property, simply called "Hotel," after the property was stripped of the "Three Palms" flag in April, remains open for business, says John Quinn, the hotel's manager, adding he welcomes the positive changes that Bacall hopes to bring to the property.
"There have been too many false starts here, I want to see this place take off," Quinn said. "It needs to catch up with its neighbors. I want it to be great, and what I've heard, it sounds like some really good things."
The 100-room, 55,356 square-feet hotel property that greets visitors as the unofficial gateway into downtown Bay City off Veterans Memorial Bridge, was flagged as a Holiday Inn for many years. It has also operated under the names Bay City Plaza Hotel, Quality Inn and Super 8.
In 2010, then owner Nick Patel, who ran the hotel under the corporation Rajyogi Inc., reopened the hotel as the Three Palms Hotel. In August 2013, the property sold for $1.9 million and switched hands from Rajyogi Inc. to Javelin Investment Fund IV LLC, according to Bay County property records.
The hotel property's previous owner has declined opportunities to comment on the status of the hotel.
Black has said Bacall hopes to be an active owner in Bay City.
"He's an involved owner, he likes Bay City and I can guarantee that he's going to be part of this community," he said.
Original article: https://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/2014/08/michigan_businessman_closes_on.html