Ridpath Hotel offered for $20 million
The WestCoast Ridpath Hotel has been listed for sale by Colliers International in Seattle for $20 million, which the real estate firm says is only a third of what it would cost to replace the historic downtown Spokane hotel.
As announced in November, WestCoast Hospitality is selling 11 hotels and other properties in order to raise $40 million to renovate its remaining 31 hotels in 12 states and British Columbia. The hotels the publicly traded company will keep include the Red Lion River Inn and Hotel at the Park and the Red Lion Templin’s Hotel on the River in Post Falls.
Colliers lists Spokane’s Budget Inn for sale at $3.5 million, along with WestCoast hotels in Boise, Kalispell, Yakima and other cities. WestCoast’s downtown Spokane retail complex, the Crescent Court, also is for sale. The company just signed international real estate firm CB Richard Ellis to list the property, said Julie Langenheim, WestCoast’s investor relations manager.
Though interest has been shown in all of the properties, Langenheim said, “we don’t have any formal offers yet. It’s still fairly early in the process.”
The Colliers broker handling the sales did not return a call seeking comment. However, the listing for the Ridpath on Colliers’ Web site describes the hotel as a 342-room, 12-story structure with underground parking. It also has over 16,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space that would accommodate 1,000 people.
It lists the hotel’s occupancy at 43 percent in 2002, 40.7 percent in 2003 and 45 percent for the 12 months that ended in October 2004. Gross revenues are listed at $5.3 million for 2002, $4.9 million for 2003 and $5.7 million for 2004. The Colliers listing also noted that retail space in the Ridpath generates $118,000 in annual rental revenue.
Dean Feldmeier, manager of the DoubleTree Spokane City Center, said the hotel occupancy rate for Spokane County was 60.8 percent in November, the most recent month for which statistics are available. He said the county’s occupancy rate tends to be lower than some surrounding markets, but is not subject to as severe fluctuations.
The valuation of a hotel listed for sale, Feldmeier said, is based primarily on the hotel’s profitability. The location and condition of the hotel can also be factors, but “generally, if it’s going to be operated as a hotel, it’s a multiplier of the profitability,” he said.
WestCoast’s Budget Inn is described in the Colliers listing as having 153 rooms, six stories and 2,500 square feet of meeting space, enough for up to 260 people.
The Budget Inn’s occupancy was 50.9 percent in 2002, 40 percent in 2003 and 42.8 percent for the 12 months that ended in October 2004, according to the listing on Colliers’ Web site. Net operating income for the Budget Inn was $227,000 in 2002, $72,000 in 2003 and $160,000 in 2004, the listing showed.
Other WestCoast properties that are for sale include the Red Lion hotels in Yakima, Idaho Falls, Kalispell, Mont., Hillsboro, Ore., Boise, Aberdeen, Wash., Bend, Ore., and Klamath Falls, Ore. The WestCoast Outlaw Hotel in Kalispell is also for sale.
Renovations to WestCoast’s remaining hotels will include upgrades to guest rooms, including new beds, renovated bathrooms and updated technology. The renovations will take place over the next 18 months.