SIOUX CITY — One of the last remaining neglected high-rise buildings in downtown Sioux City is undergoing a complete makeover, and is set to open as an upscale senior living community later this year.Â
Renovations are underway at the former hotel property at 707 Fourth St., which was once a Hilton and later a Howard Johnson. The interior has been almost entirely gutted, and the exterior is set to get a major facelift.Â
When finished, the 12-story building will house Amera Senior Living, operated by the Wichita, Kansas-based Omega Senior Living. The 156-unit center will offer independent living, assisted living and memory care.Â
A Georgia-based developer purchased the property in the fall of 2021 for $5.35 million and announced in early 2022 that it would be transformed into senior housing. For more than two years little was heard about the project, until an announcement last week that renovations are well underway and that the building should be ready to be occupied by the fall.Â
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The former Hilton (later a Howard Johnson), 707 Fourth St., is being renovated into a high-rise senior living facility, set to open this fall.Â
Workers review plans for the fire suppression system in the future Amera Senior Living, 707 Fourth St., site of the former Hilton (later Howar…
Amanda DeBacker, executive director of Amera Senior Living, said the facility will offer nearly every amenity under one roof -- including a gym and physical therapy space, library, spa, art studio, lounge space, restaurant-style dining and a swimming pool. (The pool was already in the building from its days as a hotel. Renovations on the pool aren't expected to be complete until after Amera opens.)Â
"Really the whole idea is, it's kind of a full-service facility, and they won't have to leave if they don't want to," DeBacker said.Â
The building is attached to the downtown skywalk system, for residents who enjoy the climate-controlled experience of mall-walking.Â
"We're thinking, in the wintertime, they can get out, just walk the skywalks to have some outdoor activity, without being out in the cold," said Lynn Lavallee, chief operating officer of Omega Senior Living.Â
Amanda DeBacker, executive director of Amera Senior Living, shows the progress being made on renovations to the 12-story building, 707 Fourth …
The ground floor of the future Amera Senior Living facility, 707 Fourth St., is shown under renovation.Â
Amanda DeBacker, executive director of Amera Senior Living, shows the progress being made on renovations at the former hotel property, 707 Fou…
The bottom two floors are set aside for the amenity and activity spaces, and offices; the third and fourth floors will be dedicated to memory care, the fifth through the eighth floors will be assisted living, and independent living will be on the ninth through 12th floors. (The building has three elevators for resident use.)
The independent living units on the 12th floor offer panoramic views of downtown.Â
The notion of a high-rise downtown retirement home is arguably a novel one, outside, perhaps, the densely populated cities of the East and West Coast.Â
"I think it's kind of an up-and-coming thing -- I don't know if it's necessarily a new concept, obviously it's newer for this area," DeBacker said. "This is the first-of-its-kind in the entire Siouxland area, and I even think Sioux Falls and Omaha at this point."Â
Prices range from $6,500 a month for memory care, between $3,300 and $5,300 a month for assisted living (depending on size and layout of the unit) and from $2,550 to $4,500 a month for independent living, in addition to a $2,500 community fee; there are also fees for optional add-ons such as covered parking, second occupancy, pets and medication management.
The former Hilton (later a Howard Johnson) hotel, 707 Fourth St., is under renovation and is set to re-open as a deluxe senior living facility…
The second floor of Amera Senior Living will include doctors' offices and a gym and a lounge for residents.Â
The top floor of the future Amera Senior Living, 707 Fourth St., is shown under renovation.Â
The assisted living units will offer 24/7, licensed and certified care, three meals a day, bi-weekly housekeeping and laundry, reminders and escorts and other services; independent living units offer breakfast and lunch (optional dinner is $15), bi-weekly housekeeping and linen services; the memory care unit will have dedicated staff, trainings and education for family and emotional support services, according to marketing materials provided by DeBacker.Â
The revitalization of the old hotel building would add further momentum to the revival of downtown. Most of the major properties that were dilapidated and largely or entirely empty just a handful of years ago -- including the Warrior Hotel, Commerce Building, Benson Building and the Badgerow Building -- have been completely rehabilitated by developers and reopened for new uses. The same has happened with some smaller buildings, including the Montgomery Ward (later Hatch Furniture) building on Pierce Street and the old Ramada Inn on Nebraska Street. These buildings were primarily converted into apartments, or, in the case of the Warrior, an upscale hotel.
Lavallee said residents will find downtown Sioux City an attractive place to live, while their presence will in turn boost the downtown economy as they go out and about. The building's history as one of Sioux City's nicest hotels during the 1970s, she said, is another selling point.Â
"There's so much nostalgia attached to the old Hilton hotel,"Â Lavallee said.Â
Memory care units are shown under construction on the third floor of the Amera Senior Living facility, 707 Fourth St.Â
Memory care will be located on the third floor of Amera Senior Living, a deluxe senior living facility set to open later this year at 707 Fourth St.Â
The top floor of Amera Senior Living, 707 Fourth St., will be independent living apartments with scenic views of downtown Sioux City.Â
The 12-story hotel opened in early 1975 as the Hilton Inn on the Plaza. When it was new, the hotel had a reputation for plush elegance, with chic interiors and cocktail waitresses in velour dresses at the 12th floor Showroom Lounge; the property attracted major meetings, conventions, galas and other events. In the spring of 1975 it had meetings booked as far in advance as March, 1978.
Built as part of a downtown urban renewal campaign in the 1970s, the hotel was once one of the premier hotels in Sioux City, but it more recently fell on hard times. City leaders blamed the hotel's decrepitude and poorly-run operations for a loss of business at the city-owned Convention Center, which is across the street and connected by the skywalk.Â
The hotel had the distinction of being the only one connected to the Sioux City Convention Center, until the opening of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel immediately adjacent to the Convention Center in 2019.
During this period a succession of owners attempted upgrades and renovations, including new beds, flat-screen TVs, mini-refrigerators and microwave ovens in guest rooms and extensive pool repairs.
In 2014, the hotel went through foreclosure and a sheriff's sale. A year later, the hotel became affiliated with the chain that owns the Howard Johnson brand, and for several years flew the Howard Johnson flag.Â
At the end of 2018, an entity called CSC Hospitality purchased the former Howard Johnson and renamed it the Sioux City Hotel & Conference Center, which was the same name the hotel had carried for a time before it was the Howard Johnson.
Bob Zachariah, the former hotel's managing director and a longtime veteran of the hotel industry, said in 2019 that the hotel's then-new owners had big plans to restore its yesteryear glamour, including extensive, 14-month renovations that would cost "quite a few million dollars."Â
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