WestCoast puts Ridpath up for sale

With hopes of raising $40 million for hotel renovations, WestCoast Hospitality Corp. announced Monday that it will sell 11 hotels and other properties, including the Ridpath Hotel and Crescent Court shopping center in downtown Spokane, and the Budget Inn at Fourth and Division.

Money from the sales will be used to renovate the publicly traded company’s remaining 31 hotels in 12 states and British Columbia, WestCoast said in a news release. In the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene market, they include the Red Lion River Inn and Hotel at the Park just north of downtown Spokane, as well as the Red Lion Templin’s Hotel on the River in Post Falls.

“Seven of the properties being sold are in markets where WestCoast has multiple hotels, allowing us to focus our investment and marketing on the properties which will best represent our brand and have the greatest growth potential,” said Arthur Coffey, WestCoast’s chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

The other properties to be sold are Red Lion hotels in Yakima, Idaho Falls, Kalispell, Mont., Hillsboro, Ore., Boise, Aberdeen, Wash., Bend, Ore., and Klamath Falls, Ore., and the WestCoast Outlaw Hotel in Kalispell.

Guests at the remaining hotels will notice improvements to guest rooms, including new beds, renovated bathrooms and updated technology, which will take place over the next 18 months, said Julie Langenheim, WestCoast’s investor relations manager. The additional investment will build on the $11 million the company has spent on renovations since the beginning of the year, she said.

However, the sale of the Ridpath calls into question the future of a Spokane landmark that first opened in 1900. It is the oldest continuously operating full-service hotel in Spokane, according to information provided by the Ridpath. The Ridpath has been restored twice, following fires in 1902 and 1950, and expanded across First Avenue in 1959 when the Spokane Hotel was purchased and razed.

The 342-room hotel founded by Col. William Ridpath was owned by his descendants until it was sold to WestCoast Hotels and other investors in June 1988, according to news reports. WestCoast Hospitality, then Goodale and Barbieri Companies, purchased WestCoast Hotels in 1999 and subsequently changed the names of its Cavanaugh’s hotels to the WestCoast brand. The company acquired Red Lion Hotels and Inns in 2001. The company purchased the Budget Inn, which has 153 rooms, in 1991.

Langenheim said the strength of the hotel industry in recent months spurred WestCoast to sell the properties at this time. She said when a hotel is sold it usually remains a hotel with a transition few guests notice. She said it’s not clear who may buy the properties.

The sale of the company’s Crescent Court shopping center is not new, Langenheim said. It has been for sale “off and on for the last couple of years.”

The company purchased the Crescent Court in 1993 for $1.4 million from creditors of the former Frederick & Nelson. The two buildings on the 700 block of West Main in downtown Spokane comprise 243,000 square feet of leasable space.

The Crescent department store preceded Frederick & Nelson at the downtown location and was Spokane’s premier retailer for decades. However, when G&B purchased it in 1993, the building had been vacant since Frederick & Nelson went out of business in 1992.

G&B subsequently leased up most of the space with office and retail tenants. The office space is 96 percent leased with tenants including the Bonneville Power Administration and the Postal Service’s district office. The retail side is 70 percent leased with tenants including The Moose Lake Co., Scottrade, and Weldon Barber.