July 27–The new owners of a 177-room Scottsville Road hotel sold Friday are not new to the motel business. In fact, they own a nearby property.
Roy Patel and his son, Preetesh Patel, had the winning bid of $2.5 million Friday for the property sold in a master commissioner’s sale.
Preetesh Patel said he is unsure of what changes need to be made to the hotel. “We have to get it evaluated,” he said.
Preetesh Patel said it is likely that they will keep existing hotel employees to continue operations.
The Patels already own the nearby Executive Inn, Microtel Inn, Super 8 and Hotel Sync in Bowling Green, as well as another property elsewhere in Kentucky.
The hotel was sold without a name flag. It’s not known yet what flag will be used for the property, which also includes a restaurant that for decades has been leased to Denny’s. There are about 2.8 acres that can be divided off and sold separately for some other use. Top Dollar Auctions owner Joe Houchens said the Denny’s lease is up for renegotiations next year.
Houchens, who actually handled taking the bids instead of Master Commissioner David Broderick, said the property was worth more to auction everything together, rather than selling the vacant lot separately. Houchens tried to start the bidding at $4 million, but there were no takers. The first bid was at $2 million and ended after 35 minutes with the Patels’ winning bid. At least two others were bidding on the property.
Citizens First Bank was owed more than $3.9 million on the property, but bank Executive Vice President Marc Lively said the bank considers the property sold.
Broderick said it was sold free and clear of any bank liens, and back taxes have been paid on the property. The Patels will have to pay all 2013 property taxes.
After the sale, the Patels wanted to know how quickly they could close and take possession of the property. Scott Bachert, attorney for Citizens, said it’s possible that the current operators may want the Patels to begin operations even before the closing.
The Patels’ banker, Dan Harbison of Farmer’s National Bank, said they already have a loan approved for the purchase and are just waiting on an appraisal that should occur within two weeks.
Broderick was pleased with the crowd of potential buyers who showed for the sale and that someone with knowledge of the hotel industry purchased the property.
Houchens said a representative of Hotel Brokers International was among those onlookers at the sale.
“He was there just to see what the market was,” Houchens said. “Afterward he came up and complimented me on the sale. We’d always like to get more … but I think the bank was pleased.”
— Robyn L. Minor covers business, environment, transportation and other issues for the Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bowserminor or visit bgdailynews.com.
