Grand Island, N.Y. (WBEN) - It may be back to the future - and in a big way - for the long vacant, former Radisson hotel on Grand Island.
Sources have confirmed an Israeli-based investment group has put the hotel under contract, paid a deposit and are wrapping up pre-closing due diligence on the sprawling Whitehaven Road complex.
The intent is to renovate the hotel, which has been closed for nearly three years, and turn it into a nationally-branded, five-star hotel.
"Back in the day, it was just that," said Jim Sharpe, chairman of the Grand Island Long Range Planning Committee.
Since its opening in 1973, the 283-room hotel has changed hands a number of times and seen its flag change from a Holiday Inn to more recently, the Radisson flag.
At 283 rooms, the hotel was one of the largest in Erie County's northern suburbs and also served as a hospitality bridge between both Erie and Niagara counties.
But, until recently, its future was in a state of flux and uncertainty.
A local investment group bought the hotel in late 2022 and immediately announced plans for a $25 million makeover that would have turned the building into one anchored by 135 market rate apartments. Those plans eventually stalled and the ownership group, last year, put the property on the real estate market.
Interest varied from tire-kicking investment groups to more serious would-be buyers, with the Israeli investors ultimately putting the hotel under contract in early fall.
"We could seen a scenario where the hotel plays a big role in development plans within the (Grand Island) River Oaks hamlet," Sharpe said. "And, that is good news."