Photo by George Lauby The Pawnee Hotel

The Pawnee Hotel sold Thursday at the Lincoln County Courthouse at a Lincoln County Sheriff’s auction for $73,500.

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A company called GR2 Inc., owned by Ryan Hanzlick and Greg Gifford, were the only bidders on the historic downtown North Platte landmark.

The hotel is now an assisted living residence. It had been owned by The Urban Group of Santa Barbara, Calif., headed by Bob Parsons.

The owners had fallen woefully behind in paying property taxes.

According to court records, the Pawnee owed more than $50,000 in back taxes, including: $14,647.57 for 2001, $10136.36 for 2002, $10,450.44 for 2003 and $10,330.68 for 2005. The court records did not include 2005 and 2006 property tax statements.

GR2 will also have to pay any other liens, entitlements and court costs incurred by the foreclosure and tax sale.

According to court records, the hotel was officially appraised at $471,500.

“We plan to keep it as is, keep the same staffing, people and operations, and do a lot of updates,” said new owner Ryan Hanzlick.

“We feel like we got a decent deal on it,” he said.

The Pawnee officially opened in 1929. Since then it has been the site of weddings, send-offs and campaign kick-offs. Heads of state have stayed overnight. Elegant receptions have been held in the second-floor ballroom.

“We have heard from a lot of interested people,” Hanzlick said. “Everyone mentions a wedding or a a prom there. Everyone wants to see it kept in good shape. That’s our goal. We’d like to see the ballroom open again.”

The Pawnee has been in financial trouble for more than three years. The city council and the Lincoln County Community Development Corporation donated $30,000 in March 2004 to keep the hotel operating and consider renovations.

The situation worsened later that year. The hotel nearly closed during the 2004 Christmas holidays but local individuals stepped forward with donations. An attempt was made to raise money for complete renovations but fell short.

It is stabilized financially under the management of Sandy Schade, but the back taxes continued to accumulate.

Real-estate developers

This is the first joint business venture for Hanzlick and Gifford and they are excited about it.

Hanzlick is a real estate developer. He is currently developing “Hedgewood Ridge”, a set of 10-acre residential tracts 10 miles south of North Platte on the east side of U.S. Highway 83.

Gifford is co-owner of the Royal Colonial Inn on S. Jeffers in North Platte. He also has a rural residential development, “Colonial Estates”, seven miles west of North Platte on Walker Road.