Posted: 3:24 p.m. Monday,
June 23, 2014
Manchester Inn closer to being designated
historic
By http://www.journal-news.com/staff/rick-mccrabb/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
On its long road to being prominent again,
the Manchester Inn took another step when the Ohio Historic Preservation
Advisory Board recently unanimously approved the city’s nomination of the hotel
to the National Register of Historic Places.
This does not mean the city has received
final approval because the nomination has to be confirmed at the federal level,
but it’s a good indication the nomination will move forward, said Denise Hamet,
the city’s director of economic development.
She said the nomination will enable the
redevelopment partner to compete for historic tax credits to help defray the
cost of renovating the 92-year-old hotel. She hopes the Manchester Inn will be
eligible to receive state and federal tax credits that could reduce some of the
expenses associated with repairing downtown hotel, which typically are higher
because of the age of the property.
Illinois investor William
Grau, owner of Historic Urban Development, LLC, has made the repairs to the
hotel’s leaking roof and treated it for mold, Hamet said. Grau has said he
plans to invest $10 million in the property. Grau has until Sept. 1 to take
over ownership of the Manchester Inn, according to the development agreement.
In February, City Council voted unanimously
to sell the Manchester Inn to Grau. The city purchased the Manchester for
$175,000 after it closed in 2011 and forgave about $150,000 in debt as part of
a bundle of downtown properties when it thought Cincinnati State Technical and
Community College was going to use the Manchester for its culinary and
hospitality programs as part of its Middletown branch campus.
The city was asking $325,000 for the Manchester, but accepted Grau’s
$1 offer.
Grau,
who has more than 30 years in the construction, contracting and development
industry, said he’s performing a feasibility study to determine the best use of
the Manchester. He has said he plans
to convert the hotel into catering and banquet facilities; a café and brewpub;
office spaces; a large courtyard; and 60 market rate apartments that will not
be Section 8 units.
Grau said he’s never worked with Section 8
and that wasn’t his intent with the Manchester. He said the units
are going to be one- and two-bedroom apartments.
In his original plan, Grau said he wouldn’t
renovate the hotel’s ballroom, which some consider the hotel’s biggest asset.
But when pressed about that issue, Grau said a decision will be made based off
the feasibility study to determine if it makes financial sense.
Hamet has said that city has contacted
local businesses to gauge the need for downtown hotel space.
She called the Manchester “an important
landmark” for the city and it will serve as a key component helping to move Middletown’s urban
revitalization forward. The redevelopment of the Manchester, she said, has the
potential to engage many elements of the community, including Cincinnati State
Middletown through culinary and/or hospitality programs.
Hamet said the city also is working on the
nomination for the adjacent Dan Snider Ford building.
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