Topsail Island's Loggerhead Inn purchased in potential record-breaking deal

The historic Loggerhead Inn and Suites in Surf City will be under new leadership in several weeks which could be a record breaking deal for Topsail Island, its previous owner said. 

After renovating the boutique motel at 622 N. New River Drive a few years ago, owner Richard Stroupe is placing more focus on the new Saltwater Suites, which opened Memorial Day weekend after 15 months of construction. The new owners of Loggerhead are the Carolina Resort Company, LLC and the Harrington family.

"Originally, our plans were to include those suites under the Loggerhead brand," Stroupe said. "However, after analyzing Loggerhead's history and the future of what we're trying to capture with the new property, we felt like it would be best to create a brand new vision and direction for those suites, which is why established a new brand called Saltwater Suites at Topsail for that property. 

"After going back and thinking about running two different hotels, my family and I decided it would be best to entertain offers to sell the Loggerhead understanding all the work that we put into it, which was painstakingly difficult over the last two years." 

After talking with several real estate brokers, Stroupe said it will be the highest dollar amount transaction on the island. A listing from LoopNet has the price set at $7 million for Loggerhead Inn and Suites. According to parties involved, it's the largest purchase on Topsail Island. 

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Mike Harrington, former owner of Carolina Retreats, is looking forward to being the new owner of Loggerhead Inn alongside some familiarity. Carolina Retreats managed the business with 30 rooms since 2018.

"Richard and I worked together on this project since the beginning," Harrington said about the operating company. "It happened to be a good opportunity. He was looking to sell and we were in a good position to buy." 

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The business operated similar properties with The Beach House at Oak Island and the Tranquil House Inn on the Outer Banks. Harrington said it was another good property in the collection with everyone being familiar with the ins and outs of running a motel business. 

"It seemed like a really great investment from our standpoint," he said.

Business as usual 

Stroupe said Harrington has done a fabulous job operating and running Loggerhead, while truly realizing the value it would bring to the community and to guests. Harrington said it will continue to operate with the same name, while offering the same amenities. Some of them include a picnic area, private pool, pergola for entertainment space, in addition to rooms being equipped with cable TV, a mini refrigerator, microwave and more. 

"We'll probably introduce some amenities over the upcoming months and years," Harrington said. "We'll continue to run the same staff, same logos, and have the same branding. We're excited about being able to plug it into our other properties and have a collection that we can offer guests in other destinations."  

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The agreement includes Stroupe providing considerable seller financing of handling the mortgage process and not another financer, which was one of the reasons the deal worked well. According to everyone involved, the closing date will be in late July, which will make the transaction official when the property will be in the hands of Harrington. 

It opened more than 60 years ago and has undergone several changes through the years with different owners. The property was the first family-owned motor ins for people visiting the island.

Adam Resnick was one of the previous owners along with family members in the 1990s before it was sold to Stroupe. Resnick is looking forward to seeing operations continue at what he called the best place to stay on Topsail Island through the ownership of Harrington. 

"I think it's amazing what he did to the hotel," Resnick said about Stroupe's work. "What he did was just insane. He rebuilt  the whole entire hotel from 100 percent. He took it from OK, 2-star hotel and he took it to a 5-star hotel. It's absolutely perfect." 

Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com.