Hotel Revival

JAMF co-founder’s property group buys former Ramada

Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

MOVIN’ ON UP. The former Ramada Convention Center in downtown Eau Claire won’t be this forelorn for long: Its new owners plan to remodel it and re-open by the end of 2014.
MOVIN’ ON UP. The former Ramada Convention Center in downtown Eau Claire won’t be this forelorn for long: Its new owners plan to remodel it and re-open by the end of 2014.

Zach Halmstad may be best known in Eau Claire – and in tech circles worldwide – as the co-founder of JAMF Software, but he’s not just a software guru.

“At heart, I’m really an entrepreneur, and software was an outlet for that,” Halmstad explained in an interview on the day that his latest venture, the purchase of the former Ramada hotel in downtown Eau Claire, was revealed. The announcement ended months of uncertainty about the fate of one of downtown Eau Claire’s most prominent landmarks and added to optimism about the ongoing revival of the neighborhood.

“This property was the center of downtown when I was growing up,” said Halmstad, an Eau Claire native and principal investor in Pablo Properties, which bought the hotel from Dougherty Funding of Minneapolis. “We went there for holiday meals and special events.” However, he added, in the past decade the hotel and convention center deteriorated significantly, which impacted the community as well as local businesses bringing in out-of-town visitors.

“All of them refused to have their co-workers or their guests in town stay there,” Halmstad said, referring to his own company, JAMF, as well as to banks, law firms, and other Eau Claire businesses. “Everyone ships them up outside the downtown area. But that means they can’t walk to work or enjoy the other amenities that downtown offers.”

"What we’re trying to show is people are willing to invest in downtown Eau Claire. If the Confluence Project happens, we’ll be willing to put even more money on the line and take a larger role.” – Entrepreneur Zach Halmstad, on the purchase of the former Ramada hotelPablo Properties is working with building contractor Market & Johnson on an “aggressive plan” to renovate the hotel and re-open it before 2014 is out. The number of rooms in the eight-story hotel will be reduced from 123 to between 80 and 90 to allow for the creation of bigger suites and rooms. In addition, the hotel’s first floor will be entirely remodeled to make way for a new restaurant and coffee shop, and the convention center space will be renovated as well. “We have an incredible amount of shared space in the building, but it is not well maintained and is poorly utilized,” Halmstad said. “We have plans to redesign the entire first floor and house a restaurant that focuses on great, locally sourced food.”

Currently, Pablo Properties’ most visible contribution to downtown Eau Claire’s ongoing renaissance is the firm’s construction of a new 72,000-square-foot office for JAMF Software next to Phoenix Park. That building, which will have room for as many as 300 employees, is slated for completion later this year.

Halmstad said these and other projects are linked to the potential for the Confluence Project, a proposed performing arts, residential, and commercial development on South Barstow Street. “What we’re trying to show is people are willing to invest in downtown Eau Claire,” he said. “If the Confluence Project happens, we’ll be willing to put even more money on the line and take a larger role.”

Halmstad said that the process that began with the construction of RCU’s headquarters and the creation of Phoenix Park is now building toward a “critical mass” for downtown Eau Claire. “We need lots of projects like this at the same time to be successful,” he said.

Halmstad
Halmstad

The purchase was met by praise from community leaders. “I can’t say enough about Zach and what he is doing for downtown,” said Mike Schatz, city economic development administrator and executive director of Downtown Eau Claire Inc. “Having a nice hotel downtown will fill a big void that we have had in that segment of our redevelopment efforts. The economic development benefits will be seen in visitor stays downtown and increased shopping by those visitors through conventions, weddings, and meetings.”

This hotel announcement adds to growing excitement about the future of lodging downtown. In mid-December it was announced that a group of partners, including Halmstad, had purchased the Green Tree Inn, 516 Galloway St., with plans to convert it into a creative “boutique” hotel by late this year or early 2015. (That ownership group also includes Nick Meyer, owner and publisher of Volume One.) Both hotel projects had been in development for quite some time, and the two properties plan to work together to create efficiencies and share services while still creating two distinct identities.

The former Ramada, 205 S. Barstow St., was built in 1976 and originally was a Hilton. The facility had a rough year in 2013: It underwent foreclosure after its then-owner, SB Hotel Management, had trouble paying bills; it was the subject of three sheriff’s sales; and it was finally closed Nov. 24. The property’s mortgage holder, Dougherty Funding of Minneapolis, was the winning (and only) bidder at the final sheriff’s sale on Dec. 3. According to online property records, the lender sold the hotel to a Halmstad-linked corporation on Dec. 27 for $1.62 million.

A new name for the hotel has not been chosen, and the owners haven’t yet decided if it will become part of a franchise or whether it will operate independently.