Quote:
Originally Posted by Chriscross309
Here is to hoping they do some serious work to the exterior. I'm not a huge fan of Motel 6, but maybe they will promote their extended stay brand more so than "motel 6". I'm happy though that the property is atleast receiving attention and that it isn't going to be an empty eyesore right off a major entrance point into town.
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Having been involved in this very sort of thing in my professional life in the late 1980's I can tell you that I have very little confidence in either part of this plan working. Basically both hotels are in receivership, where the financial backers own the property and they "rent" a brand name - in this case two - to act as a cover while they reorganize and remodel the properties. Even with the perfect management team these 'turnovers' have a very low success rate.
The problem are three-fold:
1 - General location
2 - Two competing properties side-by-side
3 - The total number of rooms available between the two
A fourth possible concern is the hotel in the pre-planning stages at the Civic Center, which would kill any draw for the affluent sector.
These properties are going to be unable to compete directly with the affluent and convention markets because of location. Likewise, the business class is going to want to be located closer to the points of business the Courtyard by Marriot downtown as well as two similar properties at Northgate and Southridge fill these needs nicely.
This leaves two groups, families and the economy class. Families might be a possibility by seeing on a website that the property is near-too the Clay Center or Power Park, but once they arrive there they will find the hotel is in a very UNFAMILY area of the city. Families that come here and make the mistake will YELP about it and not return. That kills the critical repeat and personal testament business and both are vital to a recovering property.
This leaves the economy class as the only group that will stay here. But, here again there is competition. The Hampton Inn on the Elf River is in walking distance to the Civic Center and of course the Holiday Inn Express is even better located to the principle draws. For those that wish to stay and drive during their visit there are two nice hotels in South Charleston and several more in Kanawha City.
These two properties fill no niche in the Charleston market in spite of the local market being in need of stock. In real estate you never get away from LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION and these properties are almost as poorly located as they can be.
I predict total failure within 6 months after the first annual review of P&L. At that point, the owners will have tossed several million dollars at a project that plunged them into the red, they will be tied up in multi-year contracts that will bleed off still more money and they will be asked some sharp questions by the people that "rented" these properties their brand name to operate under.
Once this takes place, the property could possible be sold again but that is not likely since the proof is plain to see the current set up is not going to work. The property might be sold to non-industry client - i.e., someone that would develop the property for other means such as condos, office spaces or something else. Or the worst outcome, the property are sold to property developers who will tear it down and put in a parking lot.
I would submit that the company trying this plan is either not fully educated on what they have or if they have done their homework, they are not understanding of the depth of the hole they are trying to fill. I do not believe they know what they are doing and the city over all will suffer for this endeavor wil this crap shoot set up.
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