At long last, removal of the 19-story former Hotel Seagate downtown is expected to commence with preparations yet this week, and could last through mid-March.
Removal of the derelict hotel, which Lucas County bought for $1.38 million in 2014, is needed to make way for a small park that will be part of a combined $64.5 million upgrade to the SeaGate Convention Centre and redevelopment of the adjacent 15-story Park Inn hotel.
By Thursday, safety fencing is to be placed around the Hotel Seagate and a crane will be brought in next week to begin removing the structure floor-by-floor. Total Wrecking & Environmental Co., of Buffalo, was hired to demolish the hotel, located at Summit Street and Jefferson Avenue, for just under $2 million.
“It’s going to be a deconstruction rather than a demolition. They determined that was the best way to do it,” Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken said of the hotel, which underwent initial demolition in 2014 with its outer walls removed.
That work halted when county officials abruptly decided to pursue a proposal to transform the building into a new hotel, but the redevelopment cost and expected revenue proved that project economically unfeasible. The commissioners decided in July to finish the demolition instead, then buy and renovate the Park Inn with completion expected sometime in early 2022.
The overall project is being funded through a public-private partnership comprising the county commissioners, developer Frank Kass of Columbus-based Continental Real Estate Co, and Stephen Schwartz of hotel operator First Hospitality Group, of Chicago.
The partnership, named Toledo PI Acquisitions LLC, bought the hotel Oct. 15 from PLT Holdings LLC for $7.9 million, then transferred its ownership to the county Dec. 1.
The county is investing $35 million through its Lucas County Economic Development Corp. for the redevelopment, while Continental and First Hospitality will put up $20 million, and the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority is providing a $9.3 million clean-energy loan.
Mr. Kass will perform the 33-year old Park Inn’s redevelopment and has already sent out bid packages to construction companies.
The hotel will be converted into a Hilton Garden Inn with 216 rooms and Hilton Homewood Suites with 93 rooms and be operated by First Hospitality, which already owns and operates the nearby Renaissance Toledo Downtown hotel on Summit Street.
Liquidation of the Park Inn’s furniture and fixtures already has begun with a Dayton firm, International Content Liquidations, Inc., selling the contents of 440 guest rooms and suites. Contents for sale includes flat screen televisions, bar furnishings, commercial kitchen and laundry equipment, bed and bath linens, fitness equipment, ice machines, office furniture, china and glassware, and large deco chandeliers.
By demolishing the Hotel Seagate and redeveloping the Park Inn, Lucas County will save nearly $30 million and also be able recoup both its demolition costs and 2014 purchase expense via revenues from the new Hilton hotels.
“We will recover those costs. County taxpayers will not pay a dime for the [Hotel Seagate] purchase and demolition,” Mr. Gerken said.
As part of the overall project, the county is adding a 1,000-seat ballroom to the convention center and is moving its parking-garage entrance from Summit to Monroe Street.
Mr. Gerken said construction crews already are starting work on the ballroom. Crews recently put up mini-pylons on Jefferson to accommodate construction machinery.
First Published December 22, 2020, 7:30 p.m.
