Hotel Mead boasts sales boost after switch to local management

A month after a mainstay Wisconsin Rapids hotel came under new management, it's business as usual while the company that owns the facility continues its search for a buyer, hotel officials said.
Balmoral Realty, the real estate arm of WoodTrust Bank, took over daily operations of the Hotel Mead, 451 E. Grand Ave., on Jan. 1, said Angie Chierichetti-Paulsen, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Rapids-based bank, which also owns the hotel.

"We decided that we wanted to take over the management," Chierichetti-Paulsen said, noting a core group of bank employees is working with hotel staff members to manage the facility. "We're learning a lot."

There have been people contacting bank officials, expressing interest in buying the hotel and conference center, which remains open, she said.

The change in management came exactly 10 months after bank officials hired Fort Atkinson-based Inn Development and Management Group to oversee daily operations. In August, IDM Group officials, with the approval of Balmoral leaders, converted The Grand Avenue Grill into banquet space and phased in menu changes at both Cafe Mulino and the Grand Avenue Tavern.

"We've seen an increase in business here, especially in the last month since we've had the local management," said Lisa Berry, sales manager, also noting recent hotel and convention center closures in Marshfield and Stevens Point have led to increased bookings.

"A lot of people like the fact we're not a chain," Berry said.

The bank bought the hotel for $2 million as the only bidder at a July 27 sheriff's sale after a foreclosure.
On Feb. 1, 2011, Wood County Circuit Judge Greg Potter approved a foreclosure agreement between the bank and former hotel owner W R Hotel Properties, which failed to make mortgage and property tax payments, according to court documents.

Since then, Balmoral paid all the property and room taxes the bank owed and is current on its payments to the city, Wisconsin Rapids Treasurer Dave Batten said Wednesday.

Consolidated Papers built the hotel in 1951, with significant additions in 1979 and 1998, and sold it to Stora Enso Oyj when the company purchased Consolidated in 2000. It was included when NewPage Corp. bought the former Stora Enso North America properties in December 2007. NewPage sold the business in February 2008 to W R Hotel Properties for $2.9 million.

The nearly 5.5-acre property currently is assessed at about $2.4 million and has an estimated fair market value of $2.6 million, according to Wood County tax records.

Hotel Mead employs about 90 people and features 154 rooms and suites, meeting and special events facilities, a pool and a fitness center, according to Balmoral Realty.

Reported by:  Wisconsinrapidstribune.com