After a sudden shutdown, a Crater Lake landmark faces an uncertain future |
After months of uncertainty following a dramatic foreclosure, the fate of a historic hotel outside Crater Lake National Park remains in limbo.
Prospect Historic Hotel, which first opened in the late 19th century, shuttered abruptly in July after members of its ownership group reported discovering alleged financial misconduct by a business partner, triggering criminal charges, unpaid bills and a foreclosure by the property’s lender.
Now, Bend lender ThorMar LLC is looking to sell the property ahead of the summer, when tourism in the region picks up. The hotel attracted no outside bidders at its foreclosure auction last month, but ThorMar co-owner Randy Thornton told SFGATE that multiple prospective buyers have since approached the company to explore private negotiations, with talks ongoing.
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At least two of the offers are from companies with experience working with the park or in local tourism, Thornton said, but none have come close to what the lender needs to sell the property. The minimum auction bid was $1.7 million, significantly lower than the last sale price of $2.8 million in October 2024.
“We never intended to own, let alone operate, the hotel,” Thornton said. “It’s still in our absolute primary interest to find a buyer. But our investment is most positively strengthened if the doors to the hotel are open.”
Thornton said he expects negotiations to wrap up in January. If a deal can’t be ironed out, he expects ThorMar to reopen and operate the hotel starting in April, he added.
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Prospect Hotel in Oregon, April 22, 2010.
The Prospect Historic Hotel closed in July after members of Prospect Collective LLC, the investment group that purchased the property in late 2024, reported discovering what they described as........