After being closed for more than two years, and surrounded by uncertainty seemingly forever prior to that, the Silver Beach Hotel is poised to begin writing a new chapter in its sixty-year business history.
The downtown St. Joseph ‘bookend’ at 100 Main Street has undergone extensive repair and renovation over the past year or more, and is now in the final refinements phase that would allow St Joseph City building inspectors to clear the hotel for occupancy and operation.
Jay Patel heads up Riverview Hospitality Group, the firm that owns the SBH. Patel sat down with MoodyOnTheMarket.com for an extensive interview and shared the challenges he and his associates have faced in literally resurrecting the hotel to a level that it can be reopened to the public later this Spring.
Patel told us that after recent inspection visits this month, only some relatively minor plumbing work must be completed before inspectors can be invited back for a final review of the building. Then they will move on to some cosmetic work in several interior spots and putting stored furniture back in place in the guest rooms and public areas.
Patel and his partners plan to reopen the Silver Beach Hotel in phases. Initially, three floors (2-3-4), about 75 rooms plus the main Lobby will be ready for guests. These rooms have been updated, many with new walk-in showers and renovated bathrooms, and redecorated. With half the hotel operating and generating cash flow, Patel’s group will then turn turn their attention to completing the cosmetic redecoration on the remaining floors (5-6-7). He emphasized that major electrical, plumbing, fire-safety and technology updates have been completed throughout the building. However, redecoration and bathroom layout updates are still ahead on the upper floors.
The hotel was constructed in the 1960s and spent its first approximately 40 years as a Holiday Inn. It became a Comfort Suites for a short time, then went independent, first briefly as The St. Joseph Hotel and then The Silver Beach Hotel for most of the past twenty years. There were several owners, however none of them performed major renovations or updates of the building’s fundamental operating systems.
So, when Riverview Hospitality took over, first leasing and later purchasing the hotel, Cthey were confronted with a massive ‘project list.’ A fire several years ago that damaged the electrical system contributed to plumbing issues highlighted by frozen water pipes, which eventually led to a total shutdown of operations. Then came the COVID pandemic, economic downturn, construction materials shortages and worker slowdowns.
Patel feels like he and his partners have come through The Perfect Storm in their efforts to reopen the hotel. However, he points to the facility’s amazing location and the relative lack of nearby hotel competition. While hundreds of hotel rooms have been built at Exits 23, 28 and 29, none have been added in downtown St. Joseph since 2014 when the Inn at Harbor Shores joined The Boulevard Inn, both targeting a more upscale customer segment while SBH focuses on the mass, popular price market.
When the Silver Beach Hotel reopens, it will take a basic approach, with no on-site restaurant or bar/cocktail lounge. The large ground floor space historically devoted to food and beverage will not be finished at this time. Patel speculates that they may in the future lease the space to a qualified, successful restaurant operator. But for now, he expects to offer only basic ‘Continental Breakfast’ items—or potentially simply direct guests to the several excellent nearby downtown breakfast options (Golden Brown Bakery, Thornton’s, Café’ Tosi, The Market).
Patel told us it’s difficult to put an absolute timeline on ‘Opening Day.’ Once the City gives the greenlight, final internal details can be completed. But then a staff must be hired. Several key staffers will probably come from Riverview’s several local hotels, but others must be hired. When pressed for a date, he agreed that opening “before the Tourist Season” is a reasonable and reachable goal.
Riverview Hospitality Group owns or operates the Holiday Inn Express in St. Joseph (Hilltop & Lakeshore Drive), and the Comfort Suites Hotels at Exit 23 (Stevensville) and Exit 29 (Pipestone Road).
By Gayle Olson, MOTM Contributor
