Feb. 12–The building that houses the Delafield Hotel has been sold to a group led by a Michigan investor, marking the second such sale over the past four years.
The 38-room luxury hotel, 415 Genesee St., Delafield, was sold to 616 Hotel LLC by Rock River Property Holdings LLC for $4.45 million, according to state real estate records. The sale was recorded Tuesday.
616 Hotel is led by Scott Rookus, who operates Rookus Capital Partners LLC, of Jenison, Mich. Rookus couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
Rock River Property Holdings is an affiliate of Ixonia-based ISB Community Bank.
Delafield Hotel was created within a former warehouse that developer Robert Lang had built when he owned Lang Cos., a supplier of calendars, stationery and specialty gifts that he sold in 2003. Lang opened the hotel in 2006.
In September 2010, the property was sold by Lang’s investment group, Lang Campus LLC, to 616 Hotel for $4.53 million, according to real estate records.
In court records, Lang recently characterized that sale as a multimillion dollar loss after his investment “was negatively affected during the real estate recession.”
The 2010 sale occurred through a land contract, in which the buyer provides a down payment and then makes installment payments to the seller. A land contract is used when a buyer cannot obtain a bank loan to help finance a commercial real estate purchase.
Despite the sale, Lang’s loan from ISB Community Bank to develop the hotel remained in his name, according to court records.
In September 2012, Lang Campus transferred ownership of the hotel to Rock River Property Holdings in return for the bank not filing a foreclosure suit. The property was then valued at $3.5 million, according to real estate records.
Rookus’ most recent purchase of the hotel used conventional financing, not a land contract, according to real estate records.
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