Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Developer and entrepreneur Ed Walker has purchased Roanoke's historic Patrick Henry Hotel on Jefferson Street downtown. He plans to convert the building into residence, office and retail space. Walker said the immediate priority will be to stabilize the building -- stopping up leaks and addressing asbestos issues.

The Patrick Henry was added in 1991 to the National Register of Historic Places as an example of Colonial Revival architecture. Many longtime residents of the region have attended wedding receptions, civic group meetings, company holiday parties and other events in the Patrick Henry's ballroom.

Developer Ed Walker of Roanoke plans to invest at least $14 million to resurrect the vacant and long-neglected Patrick Henry Hotel and to transform the historic downtown building into apartments and other uses.

In a transaction that closed Tuesday, Walker bought the 84-year-old hotel on South Jefferson Street for $1.3 million from Potomac Realty Capital of Boston.

Renovation work could begin soon, he said, with initial efforts focused on stabilizing a leaky roof, tackling asbestos abatement and, at some point, auctioning furniture and equipment from the former hotel.

News of Walker's plans stirred enthusiasm among local officials, a downtown development organization, retailers and others.

"We're delighted that someone has taken on the challenge of restoring the Patrick Henry," said City Manager Darlene Burcham.

Burcham said the former hotel has been on a lot of people's lists of endangered buildings. And she said she has "every confidence in the world that [Walker] will be able to restore that building into an appropriate use downtown."

Walker anticipates that the renovation of the Patrick Henry will be "an extremely difficult and challenging project." But he said he believes local ownership of and investment in the building will help ensure a good redevelopment outcome.

"Nineteen years of New York ownership haven't worked out very well," Walker said. "Weak and careless ownership of this great building meant that a city strength became a city weakness. It was past time to bring the stewardship of the building back to this community."

Walker plans to convert floors three through 10 into apartments, to add office space and preserve event space on the mezzanine/second floor and to lease space for a restaurant/bar on the ground floor. He said he has no partners in the project.

Walker and others, including longtime downtown retailer Larry Davidson, hope the work at 617 S. Jefferson St. will help inspire a revival of the mostly stagnant Jefferson Street retail corridor nearby.

"First of all, I'm delighted anyone would renovate the hotel," said Davidson, owner and president of Davidsons men's clothiers at 412 S. Jefferson St.

"But I have a lot of confidence the Patrick Henry will turn out well because of the kinds of projects [Walker] has taken on before," Davidson added.

Walker owns or has investment in other redeveloped buildings downtown, including structures along Kirk Avenue, the Hancock Building on Campbell Avenue Southwest and the Cotton Mill Lofts on Sixth Street Southwest.

He was involved also in the condominium conversion of the former Colonial American building, where Walker lives with his family. He said there are waiting lists for apartments in both the Hancock and the Cotton Mill Lofts.

He said his decision to buy the Patrick Henry involved a measure of serendipity. While visiting friends in Cambridge, Mass., Walker discovered that Potomac Realty was headquartered in adjacent Boston. He said he initiated contact and started negotiations.

Potomac had loaned money to former hotel owners Affirmative Equities Co. of New York -- which had purchased the hotel in 1990 but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. That was later amended to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February, a step that usually leads to liquidation.

Hoping to recover some of its losses through resale, Potomac ended up buying the Patrick Henry for $2 million during a public auction in Roanoke in early August. It was the sole bidder.

Walker did not disclose financing arrangements for the Patrick Henry's transformation. But his previous projects have been financed by Valley Bank.

City Councilman Rupert Cutler also expressed confidence in Walker's abilities.

"Ed Walker is single-handedly redeveloping downtown Roanoke," Cutler said. "He is amazing."

And Cutler, who lives in the former Colonial American building, said the project could help "bring Jefferson Street back to life" -- a process that could accelerate even more if an owner found a good use for the former Heironimus building, he said.

Walker said the Patrick Henry work will necessitate postponing conversion of a former ice production and storage building near Wasena Park.

Sean Luther heard the news during his second day as new president and chief executive officer of Downtown Roanoke Inc. Luther said he was briefed about the building during his first visit to Roanoke as a job candidate and is aware of Walker's redevelopment history.

"I don't think the building could have ended up in better hands than with Ed," Luther said. "We were a little worried about where it would end up, and it's good to know it's coming home."

Walker's own anxiety about the building's fate if purchased by another out-of-town company was one influence motivating his purchase of the Patrick Henry, he said.

The Patrick Henry was added in 1991 to the National Register of Historic Places as an example of Colonial Revival architecture. Many longtime residents of the region have attended wedding receptions, civic group meetings, company holiday parties and other events in the Patrick Henry's ballroom.

The new owner is 611 Jefferson LLC. Walker said the number 611 is among the addresses for the Patrick Henry building.

"This is a historic renovation of a landmark building," he said. "We will use every available program, including state and federal historic tax credits, enterprise zone incentives and anything else that is offered to help return this building to greatness."

When the city provided an interest-free loan for the renovation of the Hancock Building, controversy ensued. Burcham said she does not anticipate the city will offer incentives for the Patrick Henry conversion and Walker said he does not plan to ask.

He said he hopes the former hotel's redevelopment will help stir support -- even from chronic naysayers -- for what he described as Roanoke's ongoing renaissance.

Staff writer Mason Adams and news researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.