Heard on the Street: Rochester hotel to be sold at bankruptcy auction

Updated

A south Rochester hotel is slated to be sold at a bankruptcy auction in November.

The 145-room Wyndham Garden hotel, 1625 S. Broadway, is scheduled to be sold at auction on Nov. 15. Keen-Summit Capital Partners, of New York City, is handling the sale.

The hotel owners, Wayzata-Rochester 16 Hospitality Associates, filed for bankruptcy in June to narrowly avoid a mortgage foreclosure sale that was scheduled to be administered by the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Department. Mortgage holder Access Point reported it’s owed $6.6 million.

The hotel employed 35 to 39 workers this summer.

The Cowboy Jacks restaurant, which leases space in the hotel, is not effected by the ownership changes. Cowboy Jack’s manager says the restaurant will remain open.

The Wayzata-based owners have continued to run the hotel since the bankruptcy. Lee Fundanet, an owner and chief operating officer at Bay Ridge Properties International, said in June that the bankruptcy gives the owner a chance to refinance or sell.

Bay Ridge is a sister firm, though it is a separate entity from Wayzata-Rochester. Both are led by Robert “Tripp” Snyder. Bay Ridge has a number of hotels in Minnesota, North Dakota, Costa Rica and elsewhere.

Wayzata-Rochester 16 purchased the hotel for $4.8 million in 2012. It then renovated the property and changed the franchise from America’s Best Value to Wyndham Garden. Neither Bay Ridge nor Wayzata-Rochester own any other property in Rochester. Complete Hospitality Management, owned by Fundanet, did manage the downtown Holiday Inn for a while.

Olmsted County’s total estimated market value for the property for 2016 is $11.7 million.

Keen-Summit describes the hotel is great opportunity for bidders.

“The $3.8 million renovation along with the approval of the DMC initiative plus the proximity to the Olmsted County Fairgrounds directly across the street has positioned the Wyndham Garden to attract a large share of guests” said Matt Bordwin, co-president at Keen-Summit Capital Partners, in an announcement of the sale.

The auction flier says the hotel’s net operating income for 2017 is estimated at $1.1 million.

Subject to bankruptcy court approval, the bid deadline is Nov. 11, with the auction for qualified bidders to follow on Nov. 15.

To bid on the property, prospective buyers should go to Keen-Summit’s online auction site.