Old Kent Hotel Vote Tonight; Plans Still a Mystery

Tonight is expected to give final approval to make an offer of $735,000 to downtown.

Council voted last week following a closed-door executive session to authorize city officials to make an offer to buy the building for $735,000. The vote included allowing for up to $25,000 to cover closing costs.

The vote must be approved via a city ordinance tonight. The special meeting starts at 7 p.m.

It's unclear whether the city will attempt to partner with a developer and restore the property or sell it outright to a private entity. Kent Wired reported an anonymous source indicated Acorn Alley developer Ron Burbick has an interest in buying the building, but Burbick declined to comment.

Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala said nothing is final until the building's owner, Gregg Vilk of Vilco LLC, accepts the offer and the city has the deed in hand. Vilk did not return a call for comment from Kent Patch.

"We don’t know exactly what we’re going to do with it," Fiala said. "To me, as a lifelong citizen of the city of Kent, that was one of the cornerstones of our downtown market. To get new life into that corner of Depeyster Street and Main Street I think is just tremendous for the city of Kent."

Councilwoman Heidi Shaffer indicated to Kent Patch that the public could learn more about the building's fate at tonight's meeting.

As of this morning, of 222 votes cast in an online poll on Kent Patch the majority of readers — 64 percent — think .

The building has been tied up in legal proceedings for at least 10 years. It's been even longer since a business operated there, and its upper floors have been vacant for almost 40 years.

Fiala said the price made the decision a tough one for council members, but he sees it as a good investment for the city.

"It’s been a vacant building for 30 years," he said. "It’s been an eysore. Everybody’s been asking us when we’re going to do something about it. Nothing's going to happen with it unless the city steps up."