Avalon Holdings Corp. Buys Magnuson Grand Hotel
WARREN, Ohio -- The Avalon nameplate is returning to the landmark hotel at 9519 E. Market St. with its acquisition this week by Avalon Holdings Inc., the company whose headquarters is a few stone throws away and operates the nearby Avalon Golf and Country Club.
Terms were not disclosed.
The hotel today operates as the Magnuson Grand Hotel, a brand change that occurred in March 2012 under the ownership of local businessman John Kouvas. The Avalon opened in 1970 as a 90-room country inn. A $2.2 million addition was completed in 1986, adding 54 rooms, and a $750,000 renovation followed in 2002. Kouvas purchased the hotel in 2003.
This week’s purchase, completed through a wholly owned subsidiary of Avalon Holdings, greatly expands the Avalon Golf and Country Club facilities operated by the parent company.
The hotel will be renamed The Avalon Resort and Spa, according to the announcement, and “a multi-million dollar renovation and expansion” is being designed by Phillips/Sekanick Architects, Warren, with completion expected within 12 months, Avalon Holdings said.
The renovations will include a new indoor junior Olympic sized swimming pool and a new outdoor resort style pool and hot tub, a 12,000-square-foot addition that will provide for new restaurants, bars, a full-service spa and salon, extensive conference facilities and a complete fitness center.
The 4,000 members of Avalon's Golf and Country Club will have complete access to the resort's facilities as part of their existing club membership plan, while guests staying at the hotel will in turn have access to the facilities located at each of the club's three locations, the company said. A limousine shuttle will transport club members and hotel guest between the four locations on a continuous basis.
“Once completed, Avalon believes that the combination of the resort/spa and country club operations will create a resort complex and country club experience unparalleled in the United States,” the company said.
The resort will be marketed as an all-season facility that will include:
- A 144-room hotel,
- Three championship golf courses with one of the finest indoor golf simulation and teaching facilities in the United States,
- Four outdoor Har-Tru clay tennis courts and seven indoor US Open Deco-turf playing surface tennis courts and a racquetball court,
- Three resort style swimming pools with cabanas and an indoor junior Olympic sized pool,
- Two full service salon and spas,
- Two complete fitness centers along with outdoor jogging and cycling at the Buhl Park facility,
- Four major banquet rooms along with state of the art conference centers and numerous meeting and hospitality rooms,
- Nine restaurants,
- Three wine cellars with one of the most extensive wine list anywhere, cigar shops and regular live entertainment.
In addition to its recreation and entertainment facilities, Avalon Holdings Corp. provides waste management services to industrial, commercial, municipal and governmental customers in selected markets. The company’s CEO is Ronald Klingle, who recently was named chairman of the Western Reserve Port Authority.
Avalon Holdings reported a net loss of $700,000 for the quarter ended March 31, compared to a net loss of $144,000 in the second quarter of 2013.
Its waste management division reported a pre-tax income of $508,000 in the first quarter while its golf and related operations reported a loss of $498,000.
The company’s golf and related operations segment incurred a loss before taxes of $.5 million in the first quarter of 2014 compared with $.3 million in the first quarter of 2013. The increased loss before taxes was primarily due to the higher employee costs and increased utility expenses as a result of the extreme cold and adverse weather conditions during the first quarter of 2014.
SOURCE: Avalon Holdings Corp.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our twice-monthly print edition and to our free daily email headlines.