Quote:
Originally Posted by geomorph
I enjoyed your thread, I like seeing concentrated walking tours like this one. The Masonic building looks too small for a hotel though, is there room enough for a modern linked expansion building? Looking at the photo again, it looks like there is plenty of room behind it.
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Thanks! So there's still no detailed info to go off of for the hotel plans - yet, but what you suggest seems likely, at least as shown in a preliminary site plan, which indicates a hotel addition in back of the existing structure (as well as a lot of other major developments, including the new courthouse).
One major asset is that the Masonic building contains several ballroom-size spaces, stacked on top of each other - ideal for weddings or other events. I am guessing that to convert it into a profitable hotel, at least one or two of these spaces will be lost.
Two years ago, Plazacorp purchased the Masonic Temple building, with a condition in the contract that if they did not begin development on the block within three years, the property could be bought back by the city. Redevelopment is reported to begin by December of this year.
Source:
MLive
There's a
surface parking lot currently behind the building that the development company (PlazaCorp) recently bought from the county for $500K. This spring, PlazaCorp also acquired the
Arcadia Parking Ramp from the City for $3 million, located immediately across the street from the building.