Two Grand Forks hotels to be auctioned off after bank foreclosure
August 6, 2012 at 9:30 am in Grand Forks Herald
Two Grand Forks hotels will be auctioned off Aug. 14 after the company that owns them filed for bankruptcy for owing a bank more than $7 million. Continue Reading
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If you look @ room #s in all the other regional cities you see they fairly well track relative pop. #s. Sioux Falls & Fargo being twice the size have about twice the rooms of GF. Once again you are critical of your backyard because you always see things as greener someplace else as in “familiarity breeds contempt”.
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Maybe you should move back up here, and I’ll move back to the Cities. Perhaps that will make both of us happy.
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If you do…Don’t stop checking in here…..Hell…..Sometimes reading you guys is a bit like auditing a course….
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Gene don’t be so lazy and look it up yourself on the county’s website.
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You’re right, my bad…must have had a senior moment. I was thinking the Herald was a newspaper.
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Gene DuBois: “You want answers?”
GF Residents: “We think we are entitled to them.”
Gene DuBois: “You want answers?”
GF Residents: “We want the truth!!”
Gene DuBois: “You can’t handle the truth!!”
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Whoever you are, you are a kick. I love movie allusions. Especially when they make me an offer I can’t refuse.
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tj, your original name on this was “?”. How’d you change it?
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?
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I changed it while visiting with a friend on another site. If you change one they all change. I did it on my profile page.
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Building enough rooms to service the UND/Winnipeg needs is not unrealistic. Debt issues likely relate to the owners issues with other debt & using the debt as write-off losses. Likely isn’t related to lack of occupancy because national chains wouldn’t continue to build if it was.
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I wonder why they actually went bankrupt. I can see why the motel downtown doesn’t attract business, but the Settle Inn has a prime spot. Do you suppose there is more to the story, like some kind of mismanagement?
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It reminds me of the motel on Hwy 2 in EGF that seemed to go bankrupt every 3 months.
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Could it be the hundreds of “shiny” new rooms to compete with on south 42nd, which is just off the Interstate also? If they can’t afford a renovation to be shiny also, they ‘ll have to resort to low rates (like Motel 6 rates) to bring people in.
Without the Wisconsin and Minnesota series this upcoming season, UND hockey won’t likely ever fill all the rooms in town (which was only two weekends a year anyway); high school hockey tournament doesn’t draw what it used to; a large concert or other show is rare in GF; no large conventions ever come to GF, those that do can be handled by Hilton Garden Inn, Canad Inn, and the neighboring properties. I imagine it won’t be long until the former Holiday Inn (I think it is a Howard Johnson now), and Ramada on north 42nd start going under also.
I think you’re right about a downtown hotel should be able to make it, but the Town House looks like it hasn’t gone under a major renovation since the 70′s. Again, people are distracted by shiny new things and it is hard for the older properties that don’t update to compete, even given a good location.
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Wisc.& the Mn. are still in our league another yr. Wisc. is in GF late in the schedule. Shiny isn’t as important as price. A big supply of rooms will insure the World Junior Hockey Tourney returns & the World Curling Tourney. One could argue that more out of town fans would stay over if they know they can get tickets for more games because the Badgers & Gophers won’t be here as often. At any rate the Gophers & Badgers will continue to play UND even when in a different league.
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” At any rate the Gophers & Badgers will continue to play UND even when in a different league.”
And what do you base this on? UND will have to build new rivalries with Western Michigan. Any games against the Badgers and Gophs will be in the NCAAs at neutral arenas.
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Gene, There are always non conference games in the schedule. The Gophs would be the prime games of the year conference or not.
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The problem would be getting same weekend open dates. Given different conferences and previous commitments, may not be that easy. Maybe the Mariucci Tourney would be a possibility. Those are done a couple years in advance.
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That article in todays paper said they had to pay 51k just for the loans….That’s before general operating costs…..That’s one hell of a lot of rooms every month just to break even….
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Nonal chains are not building those motels. Country Inn, Springhill Suites, and the Hampton (not sure on the Hampton) are being built or were built by local investors. National chains do not buildhotels. They franchise hotels or what is called flagged. Ramada Inn does not even own a single Ramad Inn.
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They charge an arm & a leg for the brand so in effect they build them. Just like fast food chains are not selling hamburgers but real estate. You lease the land from them & you finance the kitchen after you pay $2 or $3 mill. for the franchise. I imagine it works pretty much the same with motels. Canad Inn is a national Canadian chain & I believe they own the hotels.
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Why couldn’t investors be from anyplace. I wonder how many local GFers own motel franchises vs outsiders like Canad Inns owners from Manitoba. You have to know there are national based investors that scout for lucrative locations to build motels. Local investors are too busy buying up houses to rip off UND students.
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In reality this is the Romney/Bain template. Take the money out and then BK the company and screw the creditors.
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Someone with some vision would see these two hotels as a new business venture for the up and coming marijuana legalization dispensaries. Patients could rent a room here as they convalesce from the myriad illnesses that can be successfully treated. Each phone dials #420 for room service. You can get your prescription of indica/sativa/white widow/christmas brew/thai stick/humboldt county delivered with a bag of ranch doritos and jalapeno cheese dip, 3 packages of twinkies, a 10 oz. bag of jack links beef jerky, a six pack of cherry pepsi and a small bottle of tums. Free streaming netflix on all room televisions.
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