Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Windows going into old hotel this week; interior build-outs begin next week; National Register process continues.
One of the most-noticeable elements of Ron Burbick’s resuscitation of the old Franklin Hotel starts today: the installation of its refurbished historic windows and their modern-day replicas. That noteworthy sign of progress comes on the heels of Burbick and a soon-to-be-announced tenant signing Acorn Corner’s final lease Monday, this one for the basement level of the five-story hotel completed in 1920. And last Friday, the Ohio Historical Society announced that Acorn Corner had taken yet another step forward in the process of getting on the National Register of Historic Places. The Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board voted Friday to forward the nominations of nine Ohio sites – including the old Kent hotel – to a National Parks …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Old hotel scheduled to be remodeled and open by year's end; developer speaks at Bowman Breakfast Wednesday
Expect to see more orange barrels downtown soon, this time around the old Franklin hotel. The hotel, which will be renamed Acorn Corner, was the focus of developer Ron Burbick’s presentation along with Record-Courier editor Roger Di Paolo at Wednesday’s semi-annual Bowman Breakfast presentation, titled “Downtown Kent — Yesterday, Today and the Vision for Tomorrow.” “I used to sit in my office, and I could count on one hand the number of people on Main Street,” Burbick said. “Now, we’re bringing people downtown, which is what we wanted. A lot of them are students, a lot of them are people from Kent. I met two couples the other day from Cincinnati who had heard about this place and drove up here to see it. Somebody from Toledo the other …
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Officials in Columbus reviewing tax credit applications; owner confident project will get financial support
Restoring the Franklin Hotel to its full potential may turn out to be easier than it looks from a financial standpoint. Owner Ron Burbick, who bought the hotel from the city late last year, made one of several planned presentations to the Ohio Historic Preservation Office in Columbus on Wednesday. He left the capital feeling confident about the project's odds of getting state and federal support — so confident that he met with the project architect and builder Thursday about starting some work as early as next week. Burbick said there is still a lot of red tape to cut through, but state officials assured him the restoration project's score of 80 on a 100 point rating scale means it will earn approval on both state and federal levels. "We …
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
City is offering $735,000 for the vacant, 5 story downtown landmark
Tonight Kent City Council is expected to give final approval to make an offer of $735,000 to buy the old Kent hotel 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…
Matt Fredmonsky
10:37 am on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
UPDATE: find out who the tenants are: http://kent.patch.com/articles/buffalo-wild-wings-moving-to-old-franklin-hotel more ›