Perry Hospitality Inc., the management company formed in April to oversee the operation of the Hotel Pattee and La Poste, will formally assume those duties Tuesday when the Perry City Council approves a liquor license for the company.
Perry Economic Development Inc. (PEDI) has managed the Hotel Pattee and La Poste in the 15 months since it purchased the properties. Perry Hospitality Inc. will now take over the management responsibilities in a lease agreement with PEDI. Ownership of the properties is expected to be transferred from PEDI to the city of Perry in the coming months.
“We are so appreciative of the great partnership between the city of Perry and our business community to position these key properties as centerpieces of our community experience for years to come,” said Tom Burkgren, spokesperson for Perry Hospitality Inc. “The generosity of so many in our community, along with the tireless efforts of the Perry Economic Development organization and committees, has been humbling to experience.”
The new ownership and management arrangements aim to ensure the stability and long-term sustainability of the 108-year-old hotel at the hub of the Perry economy and put an end to the ownership merry-go-round that became a pattern after the Ahmansons pulled up stakes and closed the hotel in 2006.
The hotel changed hands in 2008, 2013 and 2018. When Maxwell Hospitality LLC, which bought the Hotel Pattee in March 2018 and La Poste in January 2019, began seeking to sell the properties in May 2020 but no private buyer was found, city leaders and PEDI members formed a committee to look at other ownership options for the downtown landmarks.
The feasibility of buying the two hospitality venues through a public-private partnership opened up when the Perry City Council pledged $650,000 toward the project on Feb. 1, 2021, quickly followed by commitments of some $600,000 from PEDI and the Wiese Foundation.
A $500,000 donation from Osmundson Manufacturing Co. in March 2021 gave a further boost to the fundraising. Within six weeks, some $2.35 million was secured for buying the properties, and the purchase was finalized April 1, 2021.
The hotel was appraised in 2017 at about $4 million. Its revenues in 2021 were $1.2 million.
