NORTHAMPTON — A Boston area hotel group whose motto is “bringing new life to forgotten hotels” has purchased the Autumn Inn for $2.25 million with plans to keep the business operating as it has for years.
Saltaire Properties, a property management company, earlier this month bought the 32-room inn and its 2-acre site at 259 Elm St. through a pair of limited liability companies — Ellery Owner LLC and Neill Scanlon LLC — from Atwood Drive LLC. The selling company is affiliated with Hampshire Hospitality Group, which owns several hotels in Hampshire County. The sale was executed on April 11.
One of the inn’s new owners, Bob Thomas, said the company plans to make cosmetic improvements over time. Thomas said the planned design work will enhance what is already there, and that no physical changes will be apparent for quite some time.
The inn’s new owner will also get involved with the community, Thomas said.
“We love Northampton, we love the property,” he said.
Hampshire Hospitality Group bought the inn in 2001 for $2 million from innkeeper Vincent Berger. The inn was built in 1967 on a site formerly occupied by two homes.
Saltaire’s purchase isn’t the first time that the company has looked into investing in Northampton, as it attempted to develop a hotel at Village Hill in 2012.
“Saltaire acquires and repositions mid-sized independent hotels in cultural, coastal and mountain markets, with an emphasis on an authentic sense of place, design quality, and guest experience,” reads part of a description on the company’s website.
Thomas lives outside of Boston, but said he has been visiting friends in Northampton for more than two decades.
“I’ve been coming to Northampton for many years,” he said.
City officials expressed enthusiasm at the new development.
“We’re excited that they’ve chosen Northampton for their next independent hotel venture,” Terry Masterson, the city’s economic development director, wrote in an email. “We look forward to seeing what new life they breathe into this 32-room hotel, that for many years has offered a convenient and comfortable place for visitors to stay.”
Calling it a “great fit for our community,” Masterson said Saltaire has an impressive portfolio, has experience reinvigorating hotels, and takes a creative approach.
Masterson said Saltaire had been working on the purchase for a while, and had been asking the city for information for the past year or so. He also noted the tax and economic benefits of a successful hotel, noting that at 60 percent capacity and an average of one and a half guests per stay, a 32-room hotel would have 10,000 guests a year. He said this translates to $110,000 a year in room occupancy taxes, $60,000 of which would go to the city.
Additionally, he said the hotel would continue paying the city $34,000 a year in property taxes.
As for staffing, Thomas indicated that there won’t be a switchover in that area.
“Our plan is to work with everybody who is there,” he said.
Thomas also said that Hampshire Hospitality Group was “wonderful” to work with.
J. Curtis Shumway, president of Hampshire Hospitality Group, could not be reached for comment.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.