A Cleveland-based consulting firm recently presented Concord Township officials with a look at potential uses for the closed Quail Hollow Resort property.
Silverlode Consulting President Dennis McAndrew discussed a number of economic and structural barriers to reopening the 11080 Concord-Hambden Road site as a hotel before discussing the use options. He also presented ways that the township could try to encourage redevelopment.
McAndrew told the board that the building faces a collapsing storm sewer, sinkholes, a need for new HVAC and fire alarm systems and other issues. One building was closed and “gutted” after a fire sprinkler leak caused mold damage. The resort also has a “sprawling layout” that was built at different elevations at different times.
Market forces pose another obstacle to reopening the existing facility.
“Even the owner’s representative will acknowledge that the market for that sort of property has largely dried up,” McAndrew said.
He added that renovating the building would likely cost as much as demolishing and rebuilding it.
McAndrew presented different possible uses for the property. Light industry, senior housing, multi-family residences and single-family houses were all listed as the most viable, while office, hospitality and multi-tenant retail were listed as less viable.
He said that one obstacle to redevelopment is the asking price – the owner has previously asked for $7 million to sell the property.
“It strikes me as a quite high price for what’s there,” McAndrew said.
He also believes that demolition could cost $1.5 million to $2 million, without addressing drainage or elevation issues.
McAndrew recommended that the township look into state funding for demolition and site remediation, consider what incentives it can offer developers and reach out to developers.
“I’m sure that the right use is going to be found, it’s just a matter of time,” McAndrew said.
Township Administrator Andy Rose said that the township will look at possible uses for the property and its zoning rules, as well as possible economic incentives.
He added that he and Concord-Painesville Joint Economic Development District Administrator Rita McMahon planned to reach out to the property owner’s representative about the report the day after the presentation.
McAndrew said that Quail Hollow Resort was once a “thriving event center.”
“It’s got a lot of things that were appropriate for the market in the day, were appropriate for a partnership with a country club,” he added later.
Concord Township Trustee Morgan McIntosh described it as “a structure that is from an era bygone.”
“Nobody builds hotels like that anymore,” he said. “It’s so dated in the infrastructure.”
McAndrew added that part of the facility became “obsolete” after a partnership with Quail Hollow Country Club ended. That portion of the resort had previously served as the country club’s clubhouse.
McIntosh previously said that the country club is under different ownership.
The hotel was “taking a pretty precipitous dive” before the COVID-19 pandemic, McAndrew said.
The resort faced “a tough time” during the pandemic and shut down, said John Andrews, CEO of Arizona-based property manager Quay Hospitality, in a call earlier this year. The company tried to reopen the facility in 2021 to 2022 before facing flooding issues and a sinkhole.
“I think we pretty much have come to the same conclusions regarding the property in terms of the obsolescence of the current hotel property itself, and trying to rehabilitate that property is kind of beyond the pale in terms of the dollars that it would take and probably wouldn’t get to where you want it to be anyways,” Andrews said in a recent call.
He said that his company was working with local officials to look for a developer or owner for the property.
Andrews added that the property’s insurance provider did not cover the sinkhole damage, calling it a repair and maintenance issue for a drainage pipe on the property. He said that the property’s management team did not previously know about the pipe.
He said earlier this year that he talked with township officials about rezoning before the Silverlode assessment was proposed, describing the current zoning as “pretty restrictive.”
“It’s a large property, I always say, we’re 11 acres, and the frontage on the golf courses is extremely nice,” Andrews said.
While Quay manages the property, local officials said that it is owned by a New Zealand-based investment group.
The Concord-Painesville JEDD hired Silverlode to prepare the report earlier this year. The report was funded by the JEDD’s portion of the income tax revenue from the businesses that are members of the district.