Le Roy's Wiss Hotel, often referred to as a lost cause, may yet be saved.
A group of citizens pooled their resources and hired Perry-based revitalization expert Rick Hauser to conduct a feasibility study on whether the Wiss could once again be a viable business.
Hauser's short answer: Yes.
Though an expensive proposition, the old hotel building is structurally sound enough to be restored and the resulting mix of retail space and apartments would provide a return on investment.
Hauser's report suggests creating a limited liability corporation that would take the lead on the project.
Funds would come from investors -- both cash and in-kind (such as a plumber doing work in exchange for shares in the company -- tax abatement and a no-interest loan from the village.
Rather than spending upwards of $400,000 to destroy the Wiss and remediate any existing environmental problems, the money would help seed the restoration and rebirth of the building at the corner of Route 19 and Route 5, the west-end entry into the village.
The village would also need to apply for and receive National Register Historic District designation that includes the building.
The financial analysis also assumes a 10-year PILOT grant from the Genesee County Economic Development Center.
Hauser's feasibility study proposes four retail spaces on the first floor and five large, high-ceiling, light-filled, market-rate apartments -- ranging in size from 800 to nearly 1,400 square feet -- on the second and third floors.
Under such a plan, at 100-percent occupancy, the building would eventually turn over $34,000 in annual net profit.
There was little discussion of the report -- which wasn't an item on the agenda -- at the village board meeting Wednesday night.
Supporters of the project said they just wanted to get the report in the hands of trustees quickly, before the village committed to destruction of the building.
