By Zack Murdoch via The Island Packet
The Metropolitan Hotel and its dilapidated annex on Hilton Head Island were sold last week to California-based hotel developers who have plans to renovate and reopen both this year, according to the developers and town officials.
The plans include opening the main Metropolitan building as summer housing for exchange students and renovating the annex to open new a franchised hotel, new owners Harry and Sam Johal said Monday.
The Johals own more than 20 hotels around the country and have been eyeing the struggling Metropolitan property for more than two years, Harry Johal said. He would not say how much they agreed to paid for the property.
On Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., the Johals will appear before the Town of Hilton Head Island's Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals to present their plans to renovate the unsafe, abandoned annex. The meeting will be at Town Hall.
Town inspector Bob Klein declared the annex a safety risk to the public in August, citing the building's sagging roof, exposed wires and loose guardrails.
The building has sat vacant since 2008, and residents in the South Forest Beach area have long complained the annex is an eyesore and a haven for vagrants and drug dealers.
The town gave then-owner Remo Polselli several months to submit an improvement plan or the town could consider demolishing the building. By December, no plan had been submitted nor work completed.
Since the Johals took over the property last week, however, work has begun to repair the annex's roof, and the town is considering building permits to fix the guardrails, said Harry Johal and Jill Foster, town deputy director of community development.
"We're excited, and we've already started work on the back," Harry Johal said. "We've been meeting with the city people and dealing with Bob (Klein). We're determined, and I think the townspeople are behind us."
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