Patrick Henry Hotel Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 2nd 2009 at 9:01PM

All across the U.S. historic hotels are getting sold off. Up next is the Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia. The Roanoke Times says that the 125-room hotel is set for auction at the city courthouse on Wednesday. The sale is the end of a long journey that began when the owner of the 89-year-old building, Affirmative Equities Co., a New York real estate investment and development company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later the company converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy because it was unable to reorganize enough to begin paying off its debts.

The company does not have enough income to pay the necessary expenses for the Patrick Henry and so the lender Potomac Realty Capital of Delaware, is moving forward with a foreclosure sale. No sale price has been set but at the time of the sale a deposit of $275,000 or 10 percent of the price, whichever amount is lower, is required with a 30-day closing. The building and its land are assessed at about $3.7 million, according to city real estate records. Affirmative Equities bought the hotel in 1990 for $3 million with plans to turn it into senior housing.

What will become of the historic property? Many Roanoke residents are hoping that the property can be turned into some kind of business. In the past the building has held retail businesses and a restaurant in addition to a hotel. It is in need of major renovation named one of the Roanoke Valley's endangered sites and a neglected property by the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.

UPDATE: The property has sold for $2 million to Kristin Duffy of Potomac Realty Capital who was the only bidder.

Gallery: Hotels and Inns for Sale