PORT HADLOCK — A shuttered building adjacent to the Port Hadlock Marina has been redefined to provide two housing options.
The structure that contained an ethyl alcohol plant 100 years ago and a hotel from 2006 to 2011 will operate both as a 10-room inn and a nonprofit way-station that provides a path for low-income or homeless people to get back on their feet.
“We are very excited about this,” said Aislinn Palmer, the general manager of the nonprofit Bayside Housing.
“We hope the hotel will eventually turn a profit and help to support the nonprofit.”
An open house when visitors can tour both sides of the facility will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
A few low-income tenants are living there now. Organizers hope the hotel will be open by the middle of May.
As the Hadlock Inn, the hotel operated at 310 Hadlock Bay Road with 14 fancy rooms in the main section and 33 more economical rooms in the next building.
The inn, owned by Suki James of Bremerton, was operated as a luxury hotel overlooking the Port Hadlock Marina until the state Department of Revenue revoked its business license for nonpayment of taxes in 2001.
Four liens for state business and occupation taxes were filed against the inn with a face value of $152,208.
The foreclosed property was sold to Inn Properties LLC of Port Townsend on Dec. 14, 2014, for $852,000, according to the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office.
In May the posh portion, rechristened as the Old Alcohol Plant, will offer 10 rooms costing from $90 to $275 a night and another 10 rooms, the Bayside, is to be allocated to people in need of housing who will be carefully screened and allowed to stay in 28-day increments.
“This building has character and has been through a few different renovations by people with different ideas,” Palmer said.
“It was vacant since the 1980s, and I’ve heard a lot of stories from people who came out here and partied in what was then a big open shell.”
In addition to the rooms, the hotel portion will feature conference rooms and banquet facilities. The intention is to find private contractors to manage the spa and the restaurant, Palmer said.
Down the hall, the Bayside will provide short-term housing on a sliding scale, work-trade units, and no-frills hostel bunks.
Those accepted into the program will be assessed one-third of their income, while work trade rooms will be available to people seeking shelter in exchange for maintaining the facility’s upkeep.
In these cases, tenants would be required to work for 40 hours at $10 an hour for rent and will be paid for additional hours.
While Bayside provides some work training, it does not offer counseling services, although residents might be required to have a connection with governmental social services.
“We are not a full-service facility and we are not a shelter,” Palmer said.
Palmer said applications outnumber available spaces “and more come in every day.”
Tenants can drink alcohol as long as their behavior does not infringe on other occupants.
Smoking in the room is forbidden but allowed outside and illegal drugs are prohibited.
Pets are not allowed unless they are service animals, Palmer said.
Prospective tenants will be subject to background checks and will be turned down if they have committed crimes against people.
Many tenants will use the facility to get back on their feet while others might have longer range plans.
“I am going as far in this job as I can,” said Michelle Crawford, 50, of Port Hadlock who has signed up for work trade.
“I’m going to prove myself and do a damn good job.”
Rooms for the hotel portion will be available at Airbnb.com.
For event bookings or to arrange a private tour, email Palmer at apalmer@baysidehousing.org.
For information on eligibility and referrals for housing, go to www.oldalcoholplant.com and select Bayside Housing & Services.
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
