The DeSoto Motel, located less than a mile east of the campus, is officially coming down, according to Carl Paladino, chairman of Ellicott Development.
The former motel, built in the 1960s, is currently owned by 9154 Group LLC., a subsidiary of Ellicott Development in Buffalo.
“We didn’t have any practical use for the structure,” said Paladino, a 1968 St. Bonaventure graduate and former New York State gubernatorial candidate. “We’re not investors, we’re developers.”
Ellicott Development bought the property out of foreclosure in 2012 for $550,000.
Ownership of the building appealed to the firm’s officials as the property’s value was high when the motel was operational, Paladino said.
“However, it went fallow for a long time,” said Paladino. “We see no future use for it in the hotel and motel industry.”
The motel is in a state of visible disrepair, with debris strewn across the property, according to multiple student and faculty witnesses.
The property is assessed at $1.14 million.
Ellicott Development planned to turn the structure into student housing. That plan changed when enrollment at the university started going down, Paladino said.
According to the Buffalo News, undergraduate enrollment at Bonaventure totaled 1,908 students in 2012. Current enrollment comes in at 1,687 undergraduates.
Exactly when the building — which has 78 rooms and has not offered lodging since 2009 — is coming down has not been determined.
“Ellicott Development…has not yet applied for a demolition permit to remove the building,” said Carol Horowitz, Town of Allegany planner. She added that Ellicott Development did recently demolish the building’s carport, as the structure was unsafe.
“The property owner has not contacted the town recently about any reuse of the property, so I don’t know what their long-term plans are,” said Horowitz.
Paladino was also uncertain of the future of the former motel.
“Maybe someday we might build a hotel, but for now we see no use for it,” he said.
According to Eileen Skrobacz, an Olean native and former lifeguard at the Desoto Motel, the motel was usually empty when she was working there in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
“I usually was alone on the pool deck for my 4 to 10 p.m. shift,” said Skrobacz,
“When I guarded, probably late ‘70s, early ‘80s, the pool was really falling apart. Quite honestly, I don’t think I even went in the pool while I was there.”
mcelfrdh14@bonaventure.edu
