Tygart Hotel purchased by development group

Dave Clark, executive director of Woodlands Development Group, told Elkins City Council about the project Thursday evening.

“We recently purchased and took over management of the Tygart Hotel,”Clark said. “We took over management on Nov. 1. We’re very excited about the project. It’s also pretty scary. It’s a big building for us to take on, although I think it’s going to be a good project.”

The proposed use for the six-story building will be as a boutique hotel, with Woodlands working in partnership with a developer, according to information provided by Clark Thursday. A “Plan B” for the structure would be to redevelop it and maintain long-term rental housing within the former hotel.

Woodlands paid $700,000 for the property on Davis Avenue, and plans to spend $11 million in redevelopment, according to information provided Thursday.

Woodlands Development Group is a nonprofit organization and is a certified Community Housing Development Organization. Among its services is purchasing and renovating older buildings.

“I think that the acquisition of the Tygart Hotel is going to be a game-changer for Elkins,” said Councilman Charles Friddle, who thanked Clark and Woodlands Development Group for their work on the project.

The former owner of the Tygart Hotel said he thinks the redevelopment will be a tremendous benefit to downtown Elkins.

“I’m really eager to see it restored back into a hotel,” Richard Holland said Thursday. “They have the ability and the financing to accomplish that, and they’re bringing in people with tremendous experience to work on the project. It’ll be a great thing for the downtown area.”

The Tygart Hotel was built around 1907.