Old Duke St. hotel gives up the condo for good; set for Sheraton future?

It's rare indeed when we raise a toast to a failed downtown renovation project. But where the Duke Studio Condos are concerned, that time has officially and happily come -- with the added bonus of still more good news, the reported transformation of the site to a Sheraton hotel property.

For those who are new to to the matter, we're talking about the old hotel on Willard St. abutting Duke St., near American Tobacco -- a one-time Ramada Inn and later Crown Park Hotel that Durham Centre developer Frank Wittenberg promised to redevelop as the Duke Studio Condos.

Surprisingly, the scheme to slap some Estee Lauder on the porcine structure and parcel it off as condos went nowhere; whether due to the high (on a per sq. ft. basis) price or the eyebrow-raising monthly utilities and HOA dues, we'll never know.

Last time we checked in on this little slice of ugly, the property owner, one DB Durham LLC, seemingly connected to a Florida-based lender, had announced the cancellation of the condo project and the property's sale, as of November 2007.

The status quo seems to have changed status a month later, with the appointment of a receiver for DB Durham LLC in an order relating from a Florida circuit court case, State v. Berman Mortgage Corp. et al. in December of last year. Since then, the property's sole economic value generation has come in the form of paid overflow parking for Bulls games.

But as of the end of last month, the property has a new owner -- and, according to a chance mention in a WRAL report from Friday, the site will soon be the home of a Sheraton hotel property.

According to public records, the property went under contract for $4.7 million in early July, with the deal closing at the end of the last month.

The purchaser is one Krishna Hotels LLC, a limited liability corporation founded in April of this year, and listing a South Square-area attorney as the registered agent. (The deed itself lists a Larchmont Rd. apartment as the address of the young corporation.)

No word on what exactly the transformation of the site will include, or whether the outcome will be a renovation or teardown; we'd tend to guess that a Four Points by Sheraton would be the most likely brand to end up on the site, but we'll have to await further details.

Comments

[GreenLantern]

Fantastic news! I visited that place a while back, both when it was the Crown Plaza (it had to be re-named to Crown Park due to naming rights and the fact that it wasn't really a "Crown Plaza"). The interior was done up nicely, and the manager told me they intended to open up a music bar soon, like Rum Runners or something. I never saw more than five or six cars in the lot at one time. It was sold to Whittenburg soon after. I can't remember if it was used as student apartments before or after the sale. The owner was South Asian, Patel maybe?...interesting given the new buyer's name. I wonder if there's still a financial connection with the new outfit. Let the place go into foreclosure, then buy it again?? At the time, he brushed off the re-naming to Crown Park and said that he hoped it would be part of the Best Western franchise. It went under fast, when none of the national chains took the bait.

When I looked into the condos, they were astronomically priced, and you would have only considered a two-room conversion. The feeling of living in a cramped camper-trailer immediately came over me. Wasn't going to work. A hotel room is still a hotel room, or suite. It wasn't a condo for me.

It's a great location right off the freeway, but hidden behind overgrown brush and scraggly trees. Other than a close place from RTP for the business traveler to flop, nothing will really take off until the surrounding property, like University Ford, moves on and the area re-developed in a walkable manner. The ATC is nearby, but inwardly-focused. That makes the hotel it a little spooky to venture out at night, even if the aroma from Mellow Mushroom happens to waft on over. It seem weird, but the hotel seems a half-block too far from any action. It might as well be a mile away given Durham's reputation among business travelers.

[hurley]

Krishna Hotels LLC, founded in April 2008. An apartment as the business address. Sounds more like a Section 8 housing deal than a new Four Points at Sheraton hotel.

(The investors are speculating on a Democrat win in November. I'm surprised you don't see this.)

[Todd]

It's gonna take a lot of lipstick to make that pig a Sheraton. The hotel chains have a reputation to keep.

[Steven]

Here's a hot tip from someone in the business on how to make this thing work. Convert it to a Courtyard, feed off of the Marriott downtown. THEN, buy that building across the street the Marriott (where Blue Coffee is) and make that a Residence Inn. Nothing gives a city, especially a downtown, credibility like having a solid brand attached to it. Look at any city that has a credible brand in abundance and you have a healthy city.

[Reyn Bowman]

They have been working on the project for several months but only a week or so ago gave DCVB the details and plans. Kelco Hotels is managing the conversion. Permission has already been granted by the chain contingent on bring it up to standards. They will be pulling everything out and starting over. Senior VP for Kelco is a former Durhamite.

[Myers Sugg]

Steven:

It's my understanding that the hotel on Main (former McPhereson sp? Hospital) is supposed to have the Marriott Courtyard label. Can someone else confirm or refresh our memory?

Thanks,

Myers

[Deanna]

I think Myers is right - most recent plans are still that McPherson will be a Courtyard by Marriot.

[Lee]

I noticed today that there were several contractor vehicles and people going in and out of the building plus dumpsters outside. Looks like they are getting started.

[Nancy]

Crown Park owner was Raj Rathore, manager was Patel. Rathore returned, took over, and refused to pay his contractors. Don't know what he used the hotel for, but a lot of work was done and it was looking good. Patel had Best Western looking at it but Rathore ditched those plans. Stuck small businesses with a ton of debt. Then he sold it for millions or let it go into foreclosure and bought it again...not sure. Nearly put me out of business!

[GreenLantern]

Glad someone else brought this up.

BCR, can you give us the scoop if you've heard anything new? Who owns the property now and how far along were the renovations? It's been more than a year now and at some time, the place will start to deteriorate yet again.

[GreenLantern]

It's a year later after my last comment, and I hate to sound like a broken record, but does anyone have any idea of what's going on with the old Crown Park hotel? Reyn?

The last thing I heard after Crown Park went bankrupt, was that some of the floors had completed renovation after an unsuccessful bid at overly-priced condos. Seems the best use is still a hotel chain given all the new development going on around ATC.

[Bull City Rising]

@GL -- There was a plan (search Franklin Wittenberg here at BCR for more) to turn that hotel into condos, but that fell flat on its face. Then there was an effort to renovate it into a Four Points by Sheraton, and I have no idea whats happened to that.

From a hotel brand perspective, I love the SPG concept for Aloft and would love to see that site turned into one, but no clue who has site control or what the likelihood would be of any kind of big transformation of the site in the current economy.