SCRANTON — Local developer John Basalyga bought the run-down Red Carpet Inn & Suites motel downtown and plans 
to demolish at least part of it and build something else there.
The motel property at 320 Franklin Ave. between Mulberry and Linden streets was sold by Saroj Hotels Inc. to a Basalyga firm, JBAS Realty, for $1.7 million, Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate Realtor John Cognetti announced Friday. He and Hinerfeld Realtor Elijah Miller handled the sale.
The motel property has been in disrepair for some time.
Basalyga said his long-term plans for the property are undetermined and he’s open to exploring any number of options.
With holdings in the city that include the Marketplace at Steamtown and several other redeveloped properties, Basalyga said it’s important to him to continue having the downtown progress. The outmoded motel devolved into an eyesore, though the property’s size and location make it a valuable, key piece of downtown real estate, he said.
“I thought it was a black eye on the downtown. It was a nuisance property. We can’t have that,” Basalyga said. “I think something needs to be built there that adds value to the downtown. It has to be a game-changer.”
Basalyga plans to raze by September the long, narrow, two-story building of motel rooms that are visibly dilapidated and “have no value.” He may keep and renovate the main building at the corner of Mulberry Street.
He is unsure whether he would own and operate whatever structure he builds there, or rent it out. The block-long property also perhaps could be subdivided, he said.
“The downtown is on fire. I’m happy to be able to get that (motel) property,” Basalyga said. “I have every intention of building a beautiful building. Everything doesn’t have to be apartments. I’d love to see some kind of corporate headquarters there.”
Constructed in the early 1960s, as part of urban renewal, the motel at that time was the largest Central City construction project in more than three decades; and it opened as a Holiday Inn on Jan. 31, 1964.
The urban renewal also involved several other properties in the nearby areas of Mulberry Street and Penn and Franklin avenues demolished and replaced, including former retail and wholesale businesses, clubs and bars, Cognetti said.
The Holiday Inn, which was Scranton’s first motel, also coincided with the expansion of Mulberry Street from two to six lanes, Cognetti said. At that time, Mulberry Street was a main way in and out of Scranton and the Holiday Inn location was viewed as a perfect spot for tourists and visitors, Cognetti said. The motel also reflected the growing mode of travel by automobile and decline of passenger rail service, while the former Casey and Jermyn hotels downtown also were declining in prominence, he said.
Over the years, the motel changed hands and brands several times. Prior incarnations included the Scranton Inn Towne Motor Lodge and the Best Western University Inn of Scranton.
The motel is the latest property purchase in the city for Basalyga. Last week, he bought the former Parodi Cigar building in North Scranton and plans to convert it into 41 loft-style apartments. Previously, he converted a former silk mill/pants factory/showroom of Giant Floor and Wall Covering Co. in South Scranton into apartments called the Lofts at Village Square.
Basalyga also is converting the former Delta Medix medical office building at 225 Penn Ave. into 12 apartments. His holdings in Lackawanna County include several former industrial buildings redeveloped into apartments. Earlier this year, he began converting the 84-year-old former Roosevelt Elementary School in Archbald’s Eynon section into apartments.
