Metropolitan Hotel sold, annex improvements underway on Hilton Head
New owners of the Metropolitan Hotel and its dilapidated annex on Hilton Head Island have an "aggressive" plan renovate and reopen both this year, according to the developers and town officials.
The plans include opening the main Metropolitan building as summer housing for exchange students and renovating the annex to open new a franchised hotel within the next three months, new owners Hari and Sam Johl said Tuesday.
The Johls own more than 20 hotels around the country and have been eyeing the struggling Metropolitan property for more than two years, Hari Johl said.
After six months of negotiations with then-owner Remo Polselli, the cousins purchased the property and took over management last week, Hari Johl said. He would not say how much they agreed to paid for the property.
On Tuesday, the Johls presented their plans for the hotel and annex to the Town of Hilton Head Island's Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, which had been set to decide whether the long-neglected annex should be demolished.
Town inspector Bob Klein declared the annex a safety risk to the public in August, citing the building's sagging roof, exposed wires and loose guardrails.
The building has sat vacant since 2008, and residents in the South Forest Beach area have long complained the annex is an eyesore and a haven for vagrants and drug dealers.
The town gave then-owner Remo Polselli several months to submit an improvement plan or the town could consider demolishing the building. By December, no plan had been submitted nor work completed.
Since the Johls took over the property last week, however, work already is underway to fix the issues Klein cited last fall.
Contractors tore down the sagging drywall roof at the entrance to the annex, and the building received a clean bill of health during an electrical inspection two weeks ago.
Work began Monday on a new, $78,000 roof on the annex, and the town is reviewing permit applications to replace the guardrails, said Sam Johl and and Jill Foster, town deputy director of community development. The roof should be finished by the end of next week and the guardrails by the end of next month, he added.
"We've accomplished a lot more in the past seven days than the previous owner has in four years," Sam Johl said.
In all, the cousins plan to spend more than $1 million to completely renovate the annex to open as a mid-level franchise hotel by this summer, they said. Later this year, they'll begin renovations to renovate the main Metropolitan Hotel building into a new, upscale hotel, they added.
To finally see workers hammering away on the property has put neighbors' minds at ease.
"Oceanwalk Villas welcomes the positive change that the new owners of the Metropolitan Hotel are bringing to our community," said Bruce Bartow, former board president of Oceanwalk Villas, which shares a wall with the annex.
Bartow met several times with cousins and said he is happy they've taken a quick step forward to work with the town.
Nearby residents have heard similar plans from Polselli before, so they are embracing the plans with a cautious optimism, said Jack Daly, president of the Forest Beach Owners Association.
"Everything the new owners have said sounds very good. It's what we want to hear, but we also want to see it done," he said. "These guys intend to do it the right way, and we're very excited about it.
"It's such an opportunity. I'm not surprised somebody with some money is going to jump in and try to make it a winner."
Staff reporter Dan Burley contributed to this report. Follow reporter Zach Murdock at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach.
Related content:
- Metropolitan Hotel annex moves closer to demolition, Dec. 29, 2014
- Hilton Head: Metropolitan Hotel must fix or demolish abandoned building, Aug. 7, 2014
This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Metropolitan Hotel sold, annex improvements underway on Hilton Head."