The Parker-Spruce Hotel and adjacent Westbury Bar have been closed for several weeks following a fire last month, and now the property is set to be sold, prolonging the shuttering of both businesses indefinitely.
Settlement is scheduled for Nov. 17 between building owner Spruce Hotel Corporation and prospective buyer The Wankawala Organization, a hospitality-management company based in Center City, which has been leasing the property for the past several years.
Mihir Wankawala, the organization’s managing director, did not respond to requests for comment as of presstime. The sale price was not available as of presstime, but the building was last assessed at a market value of approximately $3.5 million.
Neil Carver is listed as the president and secretary of Spruce Hotel Corporation on state documents.
The entire building has been closed since Oct. 20, when a small fire on the ninth floor of the hotel forced the evacuation of patrons and employees of Parker-Spruce and Westbury. The two share a sprinkler system, which L&I found needed to be repaired, along with other electrical issues, before both businesses could reopen.
City Councilman Mark Squilla met with Wankawala and said Wankawala plans to search for a brand-name hotelier to partner with after the sale is complete. Then, the building will need to be rehabbed, a process that could take up to a year, which could impact the reopening of Westbury, he noted.
“He said he’s looking to partner with a brand-name hotel to rehab Parker-Spruce and it’s going to be closed for some time — a minimum of six months — while it’s totally rehabbed, and that could take up to a year,” Squilla said. “Westbury is in the same building that is going to be bought by this gentleman, so the Westbury people can sublease from him. But from what I understand, it will remain closed until the whole place gets rehabbed.”
Squilla said there were several other potential investors vying to buy the property but Wankawala was given priority, per his lease agreement.
He said his office will request further information from Wankawala on his plans for the building, especially in light of ongoing concerns about crime and quality-of-life issues at the hotel.
“I haven’t gotten anything in writing yet from him but I’m expecting to get that from his attorneys. We still have some doubts given the way it’s been run in the last four years when he’s been leasing it,” he said. “All right, you’re going to buy it now and get someone to partner with to open up, but how do we know it’s going to be a legitimate hotel? We have questions and concerns, and his lawyers have said they’re going to send us letters documenting what hotel brands they’re looking at.”
Squilla added Wankawala said he is interested to meet with the local community to address concerns about the property.
“After the sale, we’re going to have meetings with the community once the new owner has it to hear about the past and hopefully about the future,” Squilla said. “I mean, it’s a good thing it’s being sold but we don’t know how this hotel is going to be put back in place. And it’s a little nerve-wracking.”
