David Mitchell, GoodHomes look to leave imprint on other projects across the country

Springfield isn't the only place David Mitchell wants to leave his imprint on.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, Mitchell's New York City real estate development company, GoodHomes Communities, LLC, is looking to purchase the downtown Avalon Hotel and turn it into a 219-unit apartment complex.

GoodHomes won zoning board approval late last year to convert the former Sheraton Hotel overlooking the Warwick, Rhode Island, airport, into single and double bedroom apartments.

Speaking to the Springfield City Council twice over the summer about his bid to buy the Wyndham City Centre, 700 E. Adams St., Mitchell said he had converted 1,100 apartment units in Las Vegas and had been involved in developments in Birmingham, Chattanooga and Glenview, Illinois.

Mitchell declined to talk to The State Journal-Register ahead of the council's Oct. 18 vote on a "variance for density" that would pave a path to that sale. Under plans of the proposed sale, Mitchell would sink $40 million into the old Forum 30, which dates back to 1973, keeping 125 hotel rooms and converting 275 rooms into apartments.

Read this:For Wyndham City Centre and its prospective buyer, another city council vote looms

Mitchell needs a variance for anything north of 200 apartments.

This is the third time the issue has gone in front of the city council since July, but unlike the two previous votes, it will not need a super majority of votes because of Sept. 21 action by the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission.

Regarding GoodHomes' other projects, Mitchell referred a reporter to the company's website. It lists projects in Omaha; Tulsa; Groton, Conn.; Ringgold, Ga.; Lynchburg, Va. and Burlington and Fayetteville, N.C., but did not offer specifics.

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An attorney for Mitchell told GoErie.com that the developer also had ventures in Detroit and Columbus, Ohio.

In one of his splashier purchases, Mitchell acquired Herald Square Hotel, now the Life Hotel, in Manhattan for a reported $38.5 million in 2015. The mid-1890s Beaux-Arts building once housed Life Magazine.

Like the Wyndham City Centre, the Avalon in Erie struggled with upkeep.

And like Springfield, Mitchell was seeking a variance to convert the troubled hotel into a destination for younger city dwellers.

The one-bedroom and studio apartments in Erie will reportedly rent for $750 to $1,000, including utilities.

Mitchell's proposal in Springfield called for mostly "studio apartments," between 350 to 400 square feet, though some would be one-and two-bedroom apartments. Rent would go for $700 to $1,200 per month, he said.

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"(Mitchell) has the wherewithal to do it," attorney Michael Agresti told a reporter about the Avalon project.

In the article, Agresti claimed a large number of 30- to 40-year-old hotel and senior living facilities were becoming "obsolete for their original purpose" and that Erie and other cities were facing a shortage for "new, clean safe workforce housing."

GoodHomes pushed for a variance for the 219 apartment units. The square footage would have capped the number of rooms at 150, but Mitchell said that wasn't financially viable.

The former hotel in Warwick would seek a similar "workforce" clientele who will pay $850 to $1,100 in monthly rent, according to the Warwick Beacon.

Some 207 apartments are slated for the former five-story hotel.

There, Mitchell proposed to build a "parking lift" that would store cars vertically.

Ryan McCrady, the president and CEO of the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, said he talked to his economic development counterparts in Warwick about Mitchell's involvement with the project.

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"As far as the development process went, getting the necessary approvals and so forth, (people said) that (Mitchell) was good to work with, that he was able to finance the project, didn't have any issues go through design or code compliance and that they felt like it was a good experience working with him," McCrady said.

McCrady cautioned that the situation in Warwick "would not be an apples to apples comparison" to Springfield in terms of the hotel's location or whether it's part of the convention group.

"Every community's situation is very individual," he said. "My questions to them were: did this developer perform as they said they would? Did they provide the information they needed?"

Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley called Mitchell "a creative developer who has done some really interesting projects."

Conley, who voted against the variance on Aug. 3 and continues to be proponent of having more hotel rooms in the Wyndham, said she didn't think Mitchell's model would fly in Springfield.

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"I just think people would expect more space for the amount of rent he's currently proposing," Conley contended. "I don't know if a modified hotel room is going to draw a lot of people to apartments. I would not disagree with his contention that there is a demand and desire to have residential apartments downtown. I just disagree with the size and location."

Early last year, the Beacon reported, the hotel, then a Wyndham, was in danger of going to a tax sale because its owners owed about $850,000 in back taxes, but it was eventually averted.

As previously reported in The State Journal-Register, the city put a lien on the Wyndham City Centre for non-payment of a $1 million utility bill to City Water, Light and Power.

Mitchell said he would assume all liens if a sale goes forward.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: David Mitchell has history of turning hotels into apartment buildings