Electrical code violations that closed 47 rooms last week at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa have been fixed, the city announced late last week, but safety concerns related to the exterior of the hotel remain.
Chief Building Official Mike Scott said Monday that the hotel needs to address the exterior problems before the next freeze-and-thaw cycle. His Aug. 10 letter to hotel General Manager Bob Martorana imposed a Nov. 8 deadline for exterior repairs. The letter said the city will close the hotel if it isn't in full compliance by the deadline.
The necessary repairs are detailed in an engineering report the hotel undertook after the city issued it a notice of unsafe conditions in June 2016. Scott said Monday that the inspection that led to last year's notice found areas where material had flaked off roof overhangs, both on the facing and undersides.
Material had also fallen onto the south-facing roof from the two cupolas that protrude from it. A complaint received by a city director led to the inspection.
"That's what triggered me asking for the engineering report," Scott said of last year's inspection. "We want to make sure that none of that falls on the sidewalk."
Martorana said Monday that the electrical violations that closed the rooms last week were repaired "almost immediately." He said the hotel is "formulating a plan" to repair the exterior.
Scott said he's had no official discussions with hotel administration about a repair plan, explaining that even stopgap measures would keep it open until plans for more permanent repairs are in place. He's estimated that the hotel has made about $600,000 in repairs since receiving the city's notice last year.
"I'm anxious to hear something official about what they're doing," he said. "We would love for them to get it all done, or at least patched up to make it through another winter. They could make it safe for the winter and hopefully do a full-blown renovation soon."
The Arlington Hotel Co. Inc. holds the mortgage on the hotel after financing its sale last month to Sky Capital Group LP. The $5.6 million debt is secured by the properties the Arlington Hotel Co. sold for a combined $5.03 million, according to deeds filed last month.
Annual interest of 4.25 percent is required to service the debt, but the mortgage terms don't specify when the debt matures.
Al Rajabi, the principal of Sky Capital and two other San Antonio-based entities involved in the purchase and incorporated in June, has been unavailable for comment since the hotel changed ownership.
Local on 08/22/2017