By CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 12, 2001
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C.--Virginia Beach-based hotel owners/developers Bruce Thompson and Edmund Ruffin continue
to expand their hospitality empire.
The two are among the investors in Nags Head Beach Hotel LLC, which acquired the Nags Head Beach Hotel for $2.3
million from Federated Mortgage of State College, Pa.
The five-story, 95-room hotel will be managed by Thompson and Ruffin's Professional Hospitality Resources Inc.,
which manages 11 other Virginia Beach and Outer Banks hotels.
The hotel is on 1.4 acres across from the ocean at the corner of North Virginia Dare Trail, known as the Beach
Road, and Ferris Avenue.
The new owners plan minor renovations to the hotel, constructed in 1988. The hotel will remain open for the remainder
of the summer season.
"We expect that through improved operational changes and aggressive marketing we will be able to capture a
larger share of the expanding tourist market here," said Thompson, chief executive of Gold Key/PHR Holding
Co., the parent of Professional Hospitality Resources, in a statement.
The announcement of the purchase of the Nags Head Beach Hotel comes on the heels of several other moves by Thompson
and Ruffin.
The pair's Gold Key Resorts broke ground June 28 on the Boardwalk Resort Hotel & Villas, a $17 million time-share
resort at 16th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach.
Following the groundbreaking, Thompson announced plans for a $60 million resort hotel and time-share complex between
33rd and 35th streets at the Oceanfront. Thompson and Ruffin spent three years and $10 million acquiring the property.
Meanwhile, the Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday approved the latest revisions to an agreement with Thompson
and Ruffin to develop a $50 million luxury hotel at 31st Street. The city is investing $20 million in the project
for land acquisition and the construction of an 850-space parking garage.
The agreement gives Thompson and Ruffin the option of either acquiring the land from the city for $3.5 million
or leasing it for the hotel.
(c) 2001, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. To see more of the The Virginian-Pilot, or to subscribe to the newspaper,
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