Royal Arkansas Hotel & Suites has new owner

By Richard Duke/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

A Colorado millionaire has acquired the Royal Arkansas Hotel & Suites, according to real estate transactions at the Jefferson County assessor’s office.

Bruce Rahmani, a hotelier and restaurateur from Northglen, Colo., has bought the hotel out of receivership from Zions First National Bank of Utah after the bank had foreclosed on its previous owners.

Arkansas Lodging LLC is the official company of ownership, according to new hotel manager Ben Buchanan. However, Rahmani, who owns several establishments in other parts of the country, is the sole owner of Arkansas Lodging.

Although the market value of the building and the land at No. 2 Convention Center Plaza is listed at more than $2.1 million, Rahmani acquired the hotel for $1,450,000. Buchanan said the object now is “to survive.”

The hotel was closed in February after Zions Bank assumed control following foreclosure against Royal Arkansas Hotel & Suites Inc. It was reopened a month later with the bank hiring Summit Management Co. of Florida to run the operations.

Buchanan said one of the top priorities will be to get the restaurant running again and opening the bar six days a week. He said that the hotel still has a contract to provide the convention center with catering.

“The only way this hotel will succeed is to make it a full-service hotel,” he said.

Buchanan said that the interest in the hotel by Rahmani has only been a few weeks old. He said the purchase happened pretty fast. Rahmani was unavailable for comment.

With a new owner, Convention Center Executive Director Bob Purvis said that the two entities will be able to work closer together.

“I’ve had a good meeting with (Rahmani), and I will be continuing to meet with (Buchanan),” Purvis said.

He said that money owed to the convention center by previous owners can’t be collected because of the foreclosure measures. Purvis said the owners owed “far more than they had.” In March, the hotel had overdue bills with the center for $5,004.43 for services dating back to June 2005. Purvis said that the center will not see that money, and that it is time to start fresh with Arkansas Lodging.

Buchanan said that the hotel can only survive when working with the convention center.

“We really are parts of one larger piece,” he said. “So we will need to make sure we work together.”

A new name change for the hotel has not been discussed.