Local investor envisions a haunting future for historic Peoria hotel
Mar 17, 2018, 3:59 PM
(Facebook photo/Arizona State Historic Preservation Office)
(Facebook photo/Arizona State Historic Preservation Office)
PHOENIX – The head of a local investment company has a haunting vision for the 110-year-old Edwards Hotel in Old Town Peoria.
“As soon as I saw it, I fell in love,” Dan Halbert, the owner of Matrix Investor Network, told the Peoria Times Friday.
Halbert purchased the building located near Grand and Peoria avenues on Oct. 17 with the vision of renovating the historic hotel into a vacation rental or an Airbnb.
In particular, Halbert told the Times he sees a murder mystery mansion in the hotel’s future, hoping it would be “something where people would want to go.”
Despite its old age, the building has fared well with inspectors, who determined the hotel’s structure is still strong enough to withstand renovations.
Though a lot of work is needed to restore the original walls and flooring.
Halbert’s plans for the hotel include swapping the two-by-fours supporting the structure with two-by-six lumber, along with nine sleeping bedrooms, two laundry facilities and an event center.
Halbert and his team are still in the planning phase of the renovation, as they await the final design and the proper permits to start the project.
There is not a timetable for the project to be complete. But when it is, Halbert is confident the planned rooftop sign will draw visitors from the nearby Grand Avenue.
“What we want to do is have special lighting,” Halbert told the Times. “So, if you’re on Grand, you turn off to see what it is.”
