Dicker buys former Ramada, converts it to a Howard Johnson franchise
Spokane developer Jerry Dicker and his firm, GVD Commercial Properties, has purchased the former Ramada Express hotel at 123 S. Post St.
The GVD firm also operates the nearby Hotel Ruby at the Corner of First and Lincoln.
The sale price was $2.4 million, according to country assessor records.
Dicker has converted the 50-room downtown hotel into a Howard Johnson franchise. It will undergo a full remodel including new beds, carpets and furnishings. Dicker estimated that renovation will cost around $750,000. The outside will be repainted, as well.
“We’re doing this because we feel the building can be improved, and that we have the right hotel management people to run it,” Dicker said.
“We also think the new Howard Johnson hotel will complement what we’re doing at the Hotel Ruby,” he said.
The original hotel building at that address was constructed in 1959, according to Spokane County records. It was converted to a Ramada Inn in 1998.