By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A Hays developer is hoping to breathe new life into an old motel by renovating it into apartments.
Mark Ottley is renovating the Villa Budget Inn on the corner of Eight and Vine streets into studio and one-bedroom apartments.
The project began in April, and Ottley hopes to have the first phase of the project open after the first of the year. He said he hopes to have all three phases of the complex open by this spring.
The studio apartments will be about 400 square feet with one bedrooms in the 700 square-foot range. Eight of the 39 units will be studios with the rest will be one-bedrooms.
The eight studios will be in the two-story section of the former motel that faces Seventh Street.
Kitchen additions are being built onto the sections of the hotel that face-east/west.
The motel’s former office will be torn down. The complex will eventually have its own laundry facility on site, and Ottley said he hopes to replace the pool in the motel’s courtyard. The apartments will have small patios that will open onto the courtyard, which will include new grass and seating areas.
The apartments will have two entrances/exits, one of which will open onto the courtyard.
The complex will also have off-street parking.
Ottley has yet to determine the rents for the apartments, but said he believes there is a demand for this type of housing in Hays.
He owns other rental properties in town, and said he sees the greatest demand for one- and two-bedroom units.
He said he decided to take on the project after observing it from the property across the street. He owns and renovated the former service station also at the corner of Eight and Vine streets. His son now runs Happy Auto Sales at that location, 801 Vine.
He said he hopes the renovation of the hotel will further improve the image of the Eighth Street corridor. The Cenex station behind the motel on Vine Street was also recently renovated. Ottley said he hoped the renovations of all three businesses will project a better image for people entering the city from the south on U.S. 183.
Ottley was not sure when the hotel was built or when it closed for operation, but it has been vacant for some time.