
DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020516

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  101 lines

NORFOLK HOTEL BEING REBORN THE EX-GOLDEN TRIANGLE WILL BE NEW, BOTH INSIDE AND OUT.

When the Golden Triangle hotel opened in 1961, with a grandeur and scale never before seen in Norfolk, it was hailed as the cornerstone for the city's urban renewal.

After more than three decades of good times and bad, for both the hotel and downtown, the hotel is again an important part of downtown's revitalization.

The hotel's new owner is pumping $10 million into the decaying structure to complement other downtown redevelopment activity, including the nearby $300 million MacArthur Center mall.

When the renovation is complete next spring, the name will change from the Hotel Norfolk to Clarion Hotel Downtown Norfolk. Clarion is the high-end division of Choice Hotels International, whose franchises include Quality Inn, Comfort Inn and Econolodge.

Family-owned Patrick Investments Corp. of Richmond is hoping to capture some of the new interest in downtown Norfolk by recapturing some of the hotel's old splendor.

``We are literally going to gut it,'' said Jeffrey Roike, general manager. ``Everything's going inside. I can't think of anything worth keeping.

``The hotel's been ignored for so many years, unfortunately,'' Roike said.

While it won't be restored to its original opulence - $47,000 was spent on doorknobs alone - it will be in the upper middle-range of hotels. Its owners said it will rival any other hotel downtown.

Everything - from the facade to the windows to the guest rooms to the heating and cooling systems - is being replaced.

Work began over the summer and will conclude this spring.

The most visible changes will include a new exterior of tinted reflective glass, possibly brown, and re-orientation of the hotel to Brambleton Avenue.

``Without physically turning the building around, we're re-orienting the lot facing towards downtown,'' Roike said.

A new entrance will be constructed from Brambleton Avenue that will include a sentry gate that will be staffed 24 hours a day. The lobby and lobby entrance will remain on Olney Road.

An unsightly stockade fence that now hides the veranda and Olympic-size pool - still Norfolk's largest - from Brambleton Avenue will be replaced with a more open brick and iron construction.

Brick and iron fencing will also replace the chain link fence that now surrounds the property. Extensive landscaping is planned.

``We're going to open up that side so we're more visible, more attractive and more inviting,'' Roike said.

Inside, the lobby as well as the rooms will be decorated in rich green and burgundy and dark woods. A lobby bar will be added.

Each of the 344 guest rooms will have a small refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, iron and ironing board, two phones, and a data port for business travelers. Room rates will be between $70 and $80 and parking will be free.

The hotel is open during the renovation, with discounted rates of $49.

Patrick Investments purchased the hotel for $3.7 million from H. Which Corp. on March 31, according to city records.

The hotel was built in 1961 for $7 million. It was named the Golden Triangle by owners Herbert Glassman and Robert Futterman because of its triangular 5.6-acre lot, which cost only $165,000.

The hotel's fortunes and owners changed several times over the years. But in its heyday, the Golden Triangle was the most acclaimed hotel in the region for its sophistication and service. The Nations Room was a five-star, white-gloved restaurant that was named one of the 20 best restaurants in the country for ``haute cuisine and elegance in dining'' by Esquire magazine.

A newspaper article on its opening read: ``Nothing has been spared in cost or in attention to detail to make (it) as functional and beautiful as possible.''

``It was the elite hotel - elegant and beautiful,'' said Pat Hanger, who worked at the Golden Triangle as a waitress and nightclub manager in the 1970s. ``If you were of any importance, this is where you came.''

Patrick Investments had been watching the property for years, but was skeptical of its potential.

The company, run by the Toomey family, has owned and operated seven other hotels along the East Coast. It has a reputation of buying distressed properties, renovating, making them successful and then selling.

The Toomeys' last project was the Holiday Inn at Crabtree Valley in Raleigh. They purchased the high-rise hotel, a Howard Johnson's, in 1991, when nearby Crabtree Valley Mall was being transformed into an upscale shopping center. The day of the closing, four rooms were occupied.

Sound familiar?

In six years, occupancy had jumped from an average of 20 percent to almost 80 percent. The Toomeys sold the property to a Holiday Inn franchisee earlier this year.

``We finished the project in Raleigh, so it was time to find another project,'' said Regina Toomey, a Patrick vice president.

It was the groundbreaking for MacArthur Center that finally persuaded the Toomeys to invest in Norfolk.

The first night Patrick owned the Norfolk hotel, six rooms were occupied.

``So we're already off to a better start,'' Toomey said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo file

The Golden Triangle as it appeared in 1969.

Color Photos

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Joseph Glidden prepares the hotel's windows for repainting.

Fred Burdan, a subcontractor, is taking out the old air conditioners

in the hotel's rooms and preparing the openings for new units. The

new hostelry will be the Clarion Hotel Downtown Norfolk. KEYWORDS: RENOVATION