Bison Inn set to open next to Super 8 Motel

A new motel called the Bison Inn has begun construction and will be open by the end of this month, according to motel owner Kal Patel.

The Bison Inn, located in southwest Jamestown next to the Super 8 Motel, will bring an additional 19 motel rooms to Jamestown, something Patel sees as a tremendous benefit to the city’s community.

“It’s an exciting thing to help hopefully bring some more tax revenue into the city and perhaps bring more events and such here in the future,” said Patel, who is president of KSSG3.

KSSG3 owns the Super 8 Motel in Jamestown, is buying the Holiday Inn Express in Jamestown, is opening a new frozen yogurt chain called Cherry Berry and owns multiple hotels in Bismarck as well.

Foundation work began several months ago, but it is expected to be a short timetable from now until the Bison Inn opens because it is using prefabricated motel rooms during construction.

Prefabricated motel rooms are crane-lifted into place on top of the building foundation with items such as flooring, lights and bathroom amenities already in place inside the individual units.

“This is the first motel unit we’ve ever purchased,” said Ken Grinsteinner, salesman with Liechty Homes of Bismarck, who sold the prefabricated units to Patel.

He said Liechty Homes sold 12 separate units called “pods” to Patel that Liechty had purchased through builder Dynamic Homes — a company based out of Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Grinsteinner said it was a two-day process to bring in the 12 pods — 10 for motel space and two for lobby space — at which point work on drywall, roofs, siding, plumbing and electrical began on Thursday.

He said Liechty has been working with Dynamic Homes with prefabricated houses and other modular units in the past, but never with motel units.

Patel said the Bison Inn will be independently operated from the Super 8 Motel next door and if the new motel is successful, he plans to expand it in the future.

“If these 19 rooms do well, then we might add another 20 rooms or so in the fall,” he said.

Patel said each room will have Serta memory-foam mattresses in addition to amenities such as 40-inch TV sets, refrigerators and microwaves.

“We’re trying to do our best to offer a quality, independently-owned property that our guests can be comfortable in and enjoy,” he said.

The Bison Inn is expected to be up and running by the end of July.

Patel expects the new motel will create up to eight jobs, with a combination of part-time and full-time workers for office staff and housekeeping.

Sun reporter Brian Willhide can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by email at bwillhide@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local business, business