'Major investment in Johnstown': Sale of Holiday Inn downtown complete
Feb. 2—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Keystone Hospitality has completed its purchase of Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown, marking one of the largest private financial investments within the central business district in recent years.
The LLC purchased the property from Pasquerilla Enterprises during an online auction last year.
No official sale price was announced following Monday's closing. Paperwork had not yet been officially filed with Cambria County's recorder of deeds as of Tuesday. But the starting bid was known to be $1.7 million, a sizable minimum price tag for a building in Johnstown.
"This is a good day for Johnstown because you're having a buyer group come in that's making a major investment in Johnstown," said Mark Pasquerilla, chairman and CEO of Pasquerilla Enterprises.
"And they're also committing to keep this a hospitality asset, and they're also agreeing to put money into the property to keep the Holiday Inn license. Their standards are very demanding."
Inderpal Singh, owner of Keystone Hospitality, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The 159-room, full-service hotel, which was managed by Crown American Associates until the sale, opened at 250 Market St. in 1973. More than 1 million guests have stayed at the establishment, including international movie stars Paul Newman and Tom Cruise when they were filming "Slap Shot" and "All the Right Moves," respectively.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency used the building as its headquarters after the 1977 Johnstown flood.
It is also home to Harrigan's Café & Wine Deck, a winner of multiple Wine Spectator awards.
"I really enjoyed the whole thing," Pasquerilla said. "I'm a food and wine guy. I'm an outgoing guy, and I like to greet people visiting our city. It's been a great experience for me and my family. I think we've had wonderful employees."
'Right thing to do'
Pasquerilla said the time had come to move on.
Pasquerilla Enterprises also recently announced its subsidiary, Crown Conventions Center Co., will no longer operate the city-owned Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center. So Crown American now only owns its downtown headquarters and the Holiday Inn Express in Richland Township.
"I just think it was the right thing for our company and me personally," Pasquerilla said.
"I think the hotel has sort of gone into the next generation, as they maintain the Holiday Inn flag. It just seemed like the right thing to do at this moment. It was a personal decision."
Holiday Inn Johnstown- Downtown is the largest lodging facility in Cambria County. It plays an important role in tourism and business for the city, especially during events such as Showcase for Commerce, Thunder in the Valley, the All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament and the Ameri- Serv Flood City Music Festival.
"Obviously, our primary interest was in having it continue to be a good and viable lodging property in the downtown with the change of ownership," said Lisa Rager, executive director of Visit Johnstown, an organization that promotes regional tourism.
"It's different, just because of the history with Crown hotels having operated it for so many years, as long as I've been in the business.
"We look forward to continuing on a good path and working with the new ownership and the management team.
"The goal is to just continue on as we have been and have that be a quality lodging property in the downtown."
Linda Thomson, president and CEO of Johnstown Area Regional Industries, described the hotel as being "very important to our economy."
"It's really a great opportunity to keep that going, and we really appreciate their investment," Thomson said.
