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Can
Roberts
Riverfront
Hotel
become
resort
within
Detroit?
By JOHN
GALLAGHER
Associated
Press
DETROIT
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Michael
Roberts
had
already
enjoyed
a long
career
in his
native
St.
Louis
before
he
bought
the
defunct
Omni
Hotel on
Detroit’s
east
riverfront
in 2010.
Since
then,
Roberts
has
poured
about $5
million
into
renovating
what
everyone
agrees
ought to
be a
jewel, a
historic
Parke-Davis
pharmaceutical
laboratory
building
transformed
25 years
ago into
a
boutique
inn as
part of
the
Stroh
River
Place
complex.
Omni and
other
previous
owners
couldn’t
make
money
there
for a
variety
of
reasons,
including
a
location
some
thought
of as
too
remote
from
downtown,
the
Detroit
Free
Press
reported.
The
106-room
hotel
was
closed
when
Roberts
bought
it.
Since
taking
over and
reopening,
he has
demolished
an
adjoining
tent-like
structure
that was
used for
large
parties
and
conferences
so that
he can
build a
new
conference
center
in its
place.
He also
has
built
two new
entrances
from the
outdoor
riverside
patio
for ease
in
entering
and
exiting
the
lower-level
bar and
restaurant,
and
renovated
about
half the
rooms,
including
the
inn’s
multistory
penthouses.
Among
other
changes,
he’s
building
an
inground
swimming
pool
surrounded
by a
patio
facing
the
river.
Roberts
also is
testing
a new
idea for
branding
the
property
as a
resort
within
the
city,
with a
location
on what
he’s
calling
the
Detroit
Riviera.
“The
concept
is to
create a
new
vision
for this
hotel
and the
Detroit
RiverWalk,”
he said
last
week.
“It will
be the
Roberts
Riverwalk
Hotel on
the
Detroit
Riviera.”
Warming
to his
topic,
he said,
“I may
be able
to
create
the
equivalent
of an
urban
resort,
something
that
will be
new and
different
and
never
done
before.
What is
the
definition
of a
resort?
It’s a
place
you can
come for
a
tranquil
life
while
you
stay,
away
from
everybody,
a
home-away-from-home
concept.”
An
attorney
by
training,
Roberts
served
two
terms on
the St.
Louis
City
Council
many
years
ago
before
focusing
on his
career
as an
entrepreneur.
He built
a
portfolio
that
includes
several
hotels
and
broadcast
outlets.
A friend
suggested
in 2010
that
Roberts
take a
look at
the
shuttered
Omni on
the
riverfront.
Long
known as
a
boutique
property,
the
hotel
had
played
host to
Frank
Sinatra
when he
performed
in
Detroit,
with his
entourage
taking
an
entire
floor.
But a
series
of
operators
had
failed
to make
a profit
at the
location.
Roberts’
goal now
is to
continue
to
upgrade
the
hotel so
that the
service
matches
his
vision
of a
resort
on the
Detroit
Riviera.
That -
and to
find a
role in
the
city’s
comeback
for both
himself
and his
hotel.
“We will
be
providing
training
in every
department,
from the
housekeeping
and
kitchen
staffs
to the
front
desk,”
he said.
“I am
investing
in
people
and in
this
facility
so we
can be a
big part
of the
city’s
resurgence.”
A
riverfront
conference
center
is
planned
on the
grounds
of the
Roberts
Riverwalk
Hotel,
the
former
Omni
Hotel in
Detroit's
Rivertown
area, as
part of
a $2
million
renovation
and
construction
project.
Also on
tap: a
pool and
pavilion
area
that the
owners
think
will be
the
first
riverfront
pool for
a
Detroit
hotel.
Land for
the new
6,000-square-foot,
glass-fronted
conference
center
building
and pool
area has
been
cleared,
but the
hotel is
waiting
for
final
permits
from the
city so
it can
begin
construction,
said
Donovan
Martin,
human
resources
manager
and
assistant
controller.
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