Toledo’s downtown Grand Plaza Hotel will close in December for several months for renovations to allow the 14-story property, which has no affiliation with a major hotel chain, to be upgraded and reflagged.

Hotel employees were made aware of the events this week.

The renovations are a requirement of a hotel chain under consideration and are extensive enough to require the shutdown of the property at 444 N. Summit St., sources said.

The Grand Plaza, whose last affiliation was with the Best Western chain, was bought for $8.5 million at auction a year ago by Toledo Riverfront Hotel LLC, a private investment group also formed a year ago to buy the hotel.

First Published November 20, 2015, 5:00 a.m.