The former Erie Downtown Hotel has been sold.

This comes as out of town developers look to redevelop the building into a new modern hotel.

A big investment closed today. New owners will soon work with a local architect to redevelop the former Downtown Erie Hotel.

Transformation will soon take place at the corner of West 18th and State Street. That’s where the former downtown Erie Hotel sits.

The broker says the building was sold to an anonymous owner for a $1.1 million dollar deal.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in outside investors. A group of owners that purchased it today. They’re from outside of the area. They’re very motivated and experienced,” said Sherry Bauer, Broker for Sherry Bauer Estate Services.

The hotel closed in February 2019 after a series of safety violations. The building was expected to remain as a hotel with Lerta benefits which will provide a ten year tax break on the value of new construction.

“It’s been vacant for quite a while. It obviously has it’s challenges, it’s highly feasible so it’s important that we have that redeveloped coming into the downtown. It just gives us a different feel,” said Chris Groner, Economic Director for the City of Erie.

This kind of project is of course welcome news to those who are trying to revitalize downtown.

“When an outside group comes in and looks at our assets and says I think investments in Erie makes sense, it’s also really important to us when we see investments in lower downtown. It’s time to see something in this part of town as well,” said James Grunke, CEO of Erie Regional Chambers.

A huge investment like this looks to bring more tourism opportunities to the city.

“From our tourism and economic development standpoint it’s phenomenal to have something like this on this side of town. Most developers want to be on the water or closer to the bayfront,” said Bauer.

Work on the property is expected to take place as soon as the weather permits.