The ultimate climax of the ex-Ramada auction saga was decidedly anticlimactic. At the third Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Office foreclosure sale held for the now-shuttered hotel, the sole bid was made by the property’s lender, Dougherty Funding LLC of Minneapolis. Acting through Eau Claire attorney John Leary, Dougherty bid $1.45 million for the downtown hotel and the attached convention center, which officially closed Nov. 24. Because Dougherty had originally loaned the foreclosed-upon former owners, SB Hotel Management, the money to buy the hotel, Dougherty was in essence buying the hotel from itself.

What’s next? That’s anyone’s guess. After the late morning auction Tuesday (Dec. 3) at the Eau Claire County Courthouse, Leary declined to comment to reporters. Several business insiders who observed the auction expressed hope that Dougherty would soon sell the hotel and convention center to a third party capable of making the investment needed to re-open and upgrade the Barstow Street facility.

Mike Schatz, director of Downtown Eau Claire Inc. and the city’s economic development director, said it’s important to get the hotel up and running soon. He said there are “interested parties” considering buying the hotel from Dougherty, but he declined to name them.

“Some people who might be interested don’t want to go public,” added Bob McCoy, CEO of the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce. McCoy agreed that re-opening the hotel is important for the health of downtown Eau Claire. “It’s a large space that’s needed for conventions,” he said. “We need hotel rooms downtown.” McCoy said he hopes the hotel doesn’t sit idle for long, especially considering the toll cold weather can have on an unoccupied building.

As mentioned, Tuesday’s sale was the third such auction held for the hotel. Last year, Dougherty foreclosed on the prior owners – brothers Amarjit, Surinder, and Kanwal Singh – after they fell behind on their payments. The Singhs bid $1.41 million for the property in the first sheriff’s sale on July 2, but were unable to make good on the bid. Likewise, the winner of a second auction on Sept. 17, SBM Holdings, couldn’t come up with its $1.655 million bid, setting the stage for a third auction.