Marcus and Millichap is proud to present the Howard Johnson Convention Center Hotel of Grand Island as a rare investment opportunity. This hotel offers the new owner the opportunity to own a turn key property with excellent returns on current income and value added potential to increase income immediately.



This property is located at the intersection of Locust and Highway 34, just north of Interstate 80 and is the first hotel encountered when traveling from Interstate 80 into Grand Island. During the past year Locust Street has been extended to connect to Interstate 80 and a new exit from the Interstate has been constructed leading directly to this hotel. Locust Street is currently a paved two lane road leading from Interstate 80 into town and is planned for expansion to a four lane road as expected traffic counts continue to rise. In fact, infrastructure such as bridges have already been completed for the future expansion to a four lane paved road.

As a result of the new exit and connection from Interstate 80, the property has realized a 30% increase in RevPAR, a 27% increase in Gross Revenue and a 40% increase in occupancy during the past year. In addition to the new Interstate improvements, a new Super Wal-Mart has opened across the street from the property. Additional retail development is planned on the pads in front of the Wal-Mart and on vacant commercially zoned parcels across the street from the new Super Wal-Mart along Locust Street. Additional new development between the Interstate and this hotel has been restricted for wetland protection.

Originally built as a Ramada Inn, this hotel has 10,000 square feet of meeting space, an on-site restaurant, a lounge, a beautiful courtyard, and dramatic indoor swimming pool. The hotel also includes a predominate porte cochere, large and open lobby area, ample parking, fitness center, and an arcade room.

The convention center provides for separation of 10,000 square feet into 10 individual meeting space and can accommodate events from the small business meeting to the large wedding extravaganza. The on-site Garden Cafi offers a large selection of popular menu items and can provide catering and banquet service for all functions hosted by the hotel.


The center courtyard offers guest a quiet outdoor retreat at the center of the hotel with private sitting areas, and an architecturally appealing arched bridge at the center. The dramatic indoor pool provides a refreshing retreat for guests with outdoor balconies overlooking the park like setting of the courtyard. Several guest rooms have been updated to the Howard Johnson Home Office standard, with a work desk, ergonomic chair, desk-top telephone, data port, and work lighting. These rooms are the desired accommodation of the business traveler.


This property has strong financial fundamentals, with increasing revenues due to the above described recent infrastructure improvements and retail development in the area. The property owner is currently negotiating a new restaurant lease with the operator of the Garden Cafi and when executed this property will be performing at a cap rate above 15% on current income and revenues will continue to rise with the addition of new retail development in the area.

Upon reviewing the Offering Memorandum, I am confident that you will agree that opportunities such as this are rare in todays marketplace.

Grand Island, the county seat of Hall County, is the fourth largest city in Nebraska with a population of nearly 50,000. Grand Island is known as the retail hub of Central Nebraska, and is the central service area to a surrounding population of more than 200,000. The many demand generators in Grand Island include, but are not limited to: The Nebraska Law Enforcement Center, Central Nebraska Regional Airport, Central Community College, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Grand Island Railyard, Fonner Park, the State Veterans Home, a large concentration of retail establishments as well as many annual events such as the Hall County Fair, the Harvest of Harmony parade, and Husker Harvest Days.

Conestoga Mall encompasses over 612,000 square feet of retail space and is the largest mall in between Denver, CO and Lincoln, NE. The mall is at the core of the largest retail center in Central Nebraska, attracting shoppers from throughout the state and region. Grand Island is known to attract shoppers from an area from York to North Platte and from the South Dakota border to northern Kansas. On weekends, any survey of west Grand Island shopping sites will uncover vehicles from many of the state's 93 counties plus Kansas and other states. Grand Island Independent 06-30-2004. The Grand Island Mall is anchored by Dillards, JC Pennys, Sears, Best Buy, and Younkers. A new Super Wal-Mart is located across the street from the mall and many big box retailers, strip centers and freestanding retail buildings surround the mall. The west side of Grand Island is referred to as the Mall Area on road signs and directional indicators.


After 100 years in Lincoln the Nebraska State Fair will be moving to Grand Island within 1 mile of the subject property. The State Fairgrounds will host many events and will be a year round demand generator for hotel rooms. Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state. The Training Center, which conducts a fourteen-week basic course, has cooperative agreements with each of Nebraskas community colleges. The Central Nebraska Regional Airport offers six flights daily Monday through Friday to and from Omaha and Kansas City. It also offers on-site rental car service through multiple providers. The Central Nebraska Regional Airport is the recipient of the 2006 Airport of the Year recognition from the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics. The airport is also the future home of a Nebraska Air Guard maintenance support facility set to open in 2008. The Guard has been an on-site presence at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport since 2004 with the Chinook CH-47SD. In 2005, CNRA became the airport of choice for the Guard to conduct flight training for pilots flying the KC-135 Stratotanker.

Central Community College, located two miles
west of the subject, offers sixteen career education programs as well as academic transfer courses in eighteen areas for students who plan to transfer to a four-year college to complete a bachelor's degree. Grand Island's Fonner Park attracts more that a quarter of a million people to its 5/8-mile track every February through May to view live racing of world-class thoroughbreds. Home of the VanBerg Family Racing Collection and the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame, Fonner Park simulcasts year-round from Churchill Downs, Belmont and other top tracks throughout the nation. Fonner Park is the future home of the planned Civic Center of Grand Island as well as the host to many annual events including the largest fair in Nebraska, the Hall County Fair. On the first Saturday of each October, school bands from all over Nebraska come to play in the Harvest of Harmony parade. Every mid-September heralds the Husker Harvest Days, a show of the latest farm techniques and equipment.

Grand Island is the railroad hub, market and shipping center for livestock, grain, corn, and dairy. The city, which is serviced by rail, air and bus, is the transportation hub of Central Nebraska. With a low unemployment rate of 4% and a job growth rate of 4.9% the economic fundamentals for Grand Island are solid. These solid fundamentals continue to lead to population growth and the relocation and development of additional demand generators.

Grand Island has a diverse economy and is not dependent upon one single industry. The twenty largest employers are listed in the following table.

This rare opportunity will attract the interest of many seasoned hotel investors. Please contact me to recieve a copy of the full offering memorandum. If it meets your investment strategy, please present a letter of intent at your earliest convenience. Thank you for taking time to consider this exceptional offering.

Phil A. McDonald
National Hospitality Group
Marcus and Millichap