An executive loft complex is converting into a "boutique hotel" as the Acme Building shoots for a different market.

The Acme Suites, which have been leasing for $2,400 per month each, will be the Acme Suites Hotel, rooms priced at $199-$250 per night.

Daria Land is managing the hotel and the building, and has begun taking reservations.

"By mid-June we're going to be launched and ready," she said.

She said it's not that the seven urban apartments weren't a success.

Advertisement

"They've been fully leased," she said. "We can make more money offering hotel rooms, and people keep asking for it."

She said Acme Suites Hotel will be similar to the Ace Hotel in Seattle and the Jupiter Hotel in Portland, also boutique hotels.

The West Sixth Street building, which has undergone a $1.5 million renovation, is owned by local real estate developer Laz Ayala.

In 2005, the cosmopolitan apartments were the centerpiece of an interior design showcase fundraiser for Asante Health System; 23 Southern Oregon interior designers took part.

The building's ground floor and basement occupants include Butterfly Life, a fitness center for women, and Cielo Salon and Boutique, which offers hair and nail care as well as massage and clothing. A new lounge is scheduled to open in August see related story in the basement.

Victoria Saxton, manager of Butterfly Life, which opened in the basement of the Acme building in April, said she didn't know about the apartments converting to a hotel, but thought it would be helpful.

"That'll just bring more business in," she said.

Janice McMullen, spa coordinator at Cielo on Sixth Street, said the added foot Btraffic will help, and a hotel and a spa complement each other well.

Ayala said two spaces remain available, a restaurant space facing Evergreen Way and retail space on Sixth Street. He said people have expressed interest in both, but nothing has jelled.

He said when he bought the building in 2004 and began renovations, he had hoped to have all the spaces filled by now, but he was being optimistic.

"All in all, I think we're on target," he said.

For more information about hotel reservations or building space call Daria Land at 776-ACME.

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com.