Former Grand Island Radisson may have a buyer

Article and Photo by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

“An offer was made. It was accepted. There was a contract signed and it’s rolling.”

That’s Council member Jose Garcia’s news on the potential sale of the former Radisson hotel at 100 Whitehaven Road.

Realtor Vienna Laurendi is working on closing the sale.

“We are still in a very vulnerable inspection period. We do have a contract on the table. They are out-of-area investors. They own several properties in New York state, as well as in Western New York,” Laurendi said.

“But this particular parcel hasn’t closed yet, and their deposit has not been released to the sellers yet, pending the inspection,” she said. “We’re just waiting for an architectural firm to review the phase 1 report to determine whether or not a follow-up inspection – or a phase 2 – is necessary.”

Laurendi, associate broker affiliated with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services Grand Island Branch, said the contract states the buyer has until Nov. 21 to release their contingency. But she said the sale could go through in less time, once those inspections are completed satisfactorily.

The hotel, which formerly operated as Radisson Hotel Niagara Falls-Grand Island, has been closed since late 2022 following a $6.15 million sale to Haven 100 Project LLC. That is a group that includes Michael Conroe of Orchard Park-based Elev8 Architecture, and J.B. Earl Co. of Provo, Utah.

The initial plan called for investing $25 million into the 263-room hotel to create 135 market-rate apartments. The plan later was modified to retain 87 hotel rooms as short-term rentals. Conroe has pointed to high interest rates as a factor in the company’s decision to sell rather than develop the site.

Garcia said he has met with the investors who are close to purchasing the hotel.

“I was able to talk about the merits for our town and what a loss it was for our community” when the Radisson closed. “It hurt our local economy,” Garcia said.

“Their vision really fits in with what we think it should be – a mix-use type space that has something for the community, and has something for our snowbirds, and maybe a place for our seniors to go. Not that it would be seniors, specifically,” he said.

Garcia added that it could be renovated to be a wonderful place that would have the amenities people need.

“They plan on renovating the entire building,” he said. “The suggestion was made to do it as it was done before – but maybe more first-class – is what they’d like to do, and they were very receptive to all of those conversations.”

Garcia said the potential buyers made no promises on what direction the renovations would take, although they said they would be amenable to working within the existing site plan.

Laurendi said, “I would very much like to emphasize that the current owner is doing everything he can to keep the building safe and secure. The inside has experienced significant vandalism. As recently as last Tuesday night, kids were still trying to break in.”

“We now have security cameras installed. It’s crucial that we keep everyone out – the interior is very dangerous. It is a real safety hazard,” said Laurendi, immediate past president of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors.

Garcia had praise for the prospective buyers.

“They seem to be genuinely interested in doing a first-class job for our town,” he said. “This is not just a looky-loo – this is the real deal.”