'Everything must go': Liquidation sale launches at shuttered Bel-Aire Hotel in Millcreek

For decades, the Bel-Aire Hotel and its restaurant were go-to places for vacationers and locals in Erie.

For the rest of the month and possibly longer, the Bel-Aire will be the place where — in the words of a liquidation company — "everything must go."

A month after its lender took over the shuttered landmark property in Millcreek Township, all of the Bel-Aire's contents will be up for sale starting Thursday and until all the items are gone.

"We are literally selling everything," said Nicole Kabealo, project manager for International Content Liquidations Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, which is handling the sale.

"Everything must go," the company said in a news release.

The event is a giant tag sale, not an auction. All the items are priced by the piece and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis until sold out, Kabealo said.

She said furniture and other items have been moved out of the Bel-Aire's 130 rooms and placed in the ballroom and other common areas, where they have price tags and are available for purchase.

On Wednesday, as Kabealo and her seven-person team prepared for the sale, the main ballroom was filled with nightstands and lamps.

"It is a sea of lamps," Kabealo said.

About half of the Bel-Aire's inventory remains for sale, Kabealo said. She said hotel companies and other buyers purchased the other half — including mattresses and bed frames — in private sales over the past three weeks.

"We have sold quite a bit already," said Kabealo, who is in Erie for the sale. "But we still have a lot left, which is why we are opening up the sale to the public."

She said she expects the furniture at the Bel-Aire to be especially attractive for buyers. The Bel-Aire got new furniture and other amenities in a $2 million renovation in 2019, before the pandemic helped cripple the hotel, which closed in May.

"The furniture is only a couple of years old," Kabealo said.

The sale is all but certain to bring the most foot traffic to the Bel-Aire since the complex closed in May. The closing left also left unused an indoor pool and guest rooms outside the main building, just east of Peninsula Drive and just south of the entrance to busy Presque Isle State Park.

List of items for sale at Bel-Aire Hotel

Among the "thousands of items" for sale, according to International Content Liquidations:

• The entire contents of the Bel-Aire's 130 guest rooms, including furniture, mirrors and linens

• Artwork

• Acres of carpet

• A total of 100 32-inch flat-screen television sets

• Chandeliers

• Contents of a commercial kitchen and banquet and catering areas

• Commercial bar and restaurant furnishings, including the bar itself

• Lobby furniture and fixtures

• Patio furniture near pool

The hours for the sale are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, starting Thursday, and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The sale will last as long as needed to clear out the Bel-Aire.

"We expect to be here through the first of the year if not longer," Kabealo said.

Future of Bel-Aire building still uncertain

The proceeds of the sale are likely to benefit the owner of the hotel — the Bel-Aire's lender, HDDA LLC, of New York City, which purchased the complex at a sheriff's sale at the Erie County Courthouse on Nov. 18.

A lawyer for HDDA said at the sale that he could not comment on HDDA's plan for the site, and Kabealo said she could not comment on the possible development of the property.

Whatever happens to the former Bel-Aire, HDDA is expected to try to recoup much of its investment through a sale or other project. HDDA, which specializes in hotel real estate, in March 2021 foreclosed on the Bel-Aire's original owner, Kertra Ltd., for nonpayment of loans and costs that eventually totaled $9.4 million, according to court records.

Kerta's president is Fairview resident Kerry Schwab, whose family had owned and operated the Bel-Aire for 60 years.

After foreclosing on the property, HDDA in April 2021 got approval from Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender for a receiver to operate the Bel-Aire and attempt to sell it. HDDA said in court records that "a receiver is desperately needed to manage and maintain the Mortgaged Property and to collect all rents, issues and profits. Numerous issues, including but not limited to the effect of COVID on the hospitality industry, necessitate the appointment of a receiver on an expedited basis."

The receiver was the Maryland-based Marshall Hotels & Resorts Inc., a third-party hotel management business. It ran the Bel-Aire and unsuccessfully tried to sell it on the open market. When no sale occurred, the Bel-Aire closed in May and HDDA pursued the sheriff's sale.

HDDA submitted the only bid at the sheriff's sale — $468,306 in costs and taxes. Bidding started at that amount. HDDA's purchase, known as a credit bid, means that it got the deed but also took on the full amount of the outstanding loans and costs — $9.4 million — that led HDDA to foreclose on the Bel-Aire and force the sheriff's sale.

The Bel-Aire sits on 5.35 acres, and the complex encompasses 89,263 square feet. The building and land is assessed at a total of $5.1 million, according to Erie County property records.

Plenty of deals at a shuttered Bel-Aire Hotel

On Wednesday, the halls of the Bel-Aire were quiet, except for Kabealo and other who were preparing for the public sale.

Long gone was the holiday bustle of guests and locals laughing and dining at what was the Bel-Aire's Maxi's restaurant, which the Schwab family would have festooned with a Christmas tree and other decorations.

Long gone was the splashing at the pool. And long gone was the stream of visitors lining up at the front desk to check in.

The sounds of a marketplace soon would fill the Bel-Aire. As she strolled by rows of flat-screen TVs, Nicole Kabealo said she was ready. The TVs are selling for $45 each, plus tax and a 15% buyer's premium.

"It is still a heck of deal," Kabealo said.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Liquidation sale starts at former Bel-Aire Hotel: "Everything must go"