Inn on Water Street put up for sale

MARINE CITY — The Inn on Water Street is now up for sale.

Talk among residents and on social media emerged late last week about a listing for the property, 560 S. Water St., through Community Choice Realty with a listed price at $3.1 million.

Founding developers and owners Tom and Kathy Vertin, also known for their involvement in nonprofit theaters the Snug, the Riverbank, and the Boardwalk in Marine City and St. Clair, didn’t directly comment on the listing for the inn site when asked on Monday.

However, in a message, Kathy Vertin said, “If we get a buyer, I will let you know. For the time being, we are still busy running the inn, which is having a great year, and volunteering at the theaters to keep them growing strong. We are still (as) committed as ever to this Thumbcoast destination!”

In follow up, she added they were "fortunate to have strong management running the inn," enabling them to be involved with and grow the theaters.

Kathy had shared a similar sentiment two days earlier in a post on the “City of Marine City, Michigan” Facebook page. On Saturday, she also recounted the property’s tax data, commenting “in the interest of our staff who have worked hard to make the inn a success and the majority of the community that has been supportive of progress.”

“The inn is for sale not because it is failing, but because it is having a banner year,” she wrote. “You sell when things are good; you fix when a business is failing.”

The Vertins purchased 560 S. Water St. in Marine City at the corner with Bridge Street in March 2016 for $345,000 under Inn on Water Street LLC.

After 14 months of construction — also including several condos — the $4.2 million, 26-room hotel opened in 2018.

Early room rates went for $139 to $159 a night with the expectation they’d jump to $169 that spring. Current bookings for the rooms range from $179 to $289, depending on availability, view, and other features.

In addition to a 12-year tax abatement, incentives for the project at the time included a $642,000 community revitalization grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, $3,500 from the St. Clair County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, and a $167,000 loan and $249,000 grant from the then-Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

The reported private investment was roughly $3 million, and a 2017 future-advance mortgage for the property were listed with promissory notes of $950,000, $1.2 million, and $642,000 — the second of which was later amended to $1.4 million.

At the time, when construction was slated to get started, Kathy Vertin cited the cooperation between local, state, and county authorities as a recipe for the project’s early success.

Some residents have been critical of the project and the Vertins, often citing support for incentives for small businesses versus other developments.

Laura Merchant, newly named director to the Marine City Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Mariner, said they hear from visitors that the Inn on Water Street is often booked up in the summertime, and that they believed the hotel was a benefit to the community even if it meant the Vertins were transitioning away from owning it.

“Not only does it have condos that have brought (new residents), but having a hotel in town allows people to come into town for staycations,” Merchant said. “It’s not just a day trip anymore. We’re excited and sad at the same time.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Inn on Water Street put up for sale