Nov. 12—A vacant hotel is getting a new life.
Fortune Companies Inc. bought the former Garden Inn and Suites, 4021 S. Lafountain St., in September for $1.2 million, according to county property records, and the company says it's going to turn the building into a residential development.
Specifically, Scott Pitcher, founder and owner of Fortune Companies, said the real estate and development company is aiming to transform the property into housing for the hundreds of Korean nationals set to move to Kokomo and surrounding areas for the StarPlus Energy electric vehicle battery manufacturing plants.
"We hope to convert it to more Korean workforce housing," Pitcher told the Tribune last month.
Work to do that is already underway.
Crews were seen last week working to renovate the exterior of the building. Pitcher said Fortune is not going to demolish the building, instead opting to renovate it.
While the building has sat vacant the last several years, Pitcher said the roof has remained intact.
That means the inside of the building has been spared from water damage. The plan right now is to fill in the indoor pool.
"The inside is not terrible," Pitcher said. "We'll have to replace all the mechanical systems, but the bones are good."
The redevelopment of the Garden Inn and Suites into Korean workforce housing is the second such project Fortune is undertaking.
The company also bought the former Kokomo Tribune building, 300 N. Union St., and, with the help of city incentives, is renovating the building into Korean workforce housing that also includes a Korean quick service restaurant.
Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.