Shane Neavin, right, of Transition Homes, gets an update on the progress at the Okoboji Commons Hotel, from his foreman, Ed Sullivan. Transition’s crews worked through the winter in an effort to make the planned June 1 opening of the 70-unit hotel a reality.
Michael Lewis
The south face of the north building shows the soon-to-be Okoboji Commons Hotel was almost fully enclosed in late January.
OKOBOJI, Iowa | Kristi Leigh and Misty Katzfey are planning a June 1 opening for their Okoboji Commons Hotel.
In September, the two purchased the property, which sits on a 6.2-acre site on East Lake Okoboji. They have added a third story to the north building to accommodate a total of more than 70 guest rooms, and an as-yet unnamed meeting room that is expected to seat about 150 for dinner.
The property is located along U.S. Highway 71 at Stakeout Road, at the former site of the East Oaks Mall. Katzfey said that in addition to the mall, the property includes The Lighthouse restaurant, The Stone Cottage, two other shops, and about 80 feet of lakefront.
The purchase price was $1.7 million with the final price tag for the project set at about $5 million, Leigh said.
The Lighthouse will remain as it is for the first season, she added, noting that a guest swimming pool will be built in the center commons area for the 2017 season, if not this year.
The Commons area will also feature urban-modern fire pits and gazebos, and by 2017 if not this year, a swimming pool with a view of the lake. “You can see the lake perfectly from the commons area,” Leigh said. “You can see the lake from the Lighthouse, too.”
A hammock beach will be added, along with boat docks, too, she added.
The south building will house six guest rooms and a full meeting facility with kitchen and bar area to host weddings and events, with dinner seating for about 150 guests.
Another amenity, the Okoboji Smack Shack, is also to be added to the complex, with a menu of specialty sandwiches.
Leigh said, “Now that we are reinventing that area it will become a really unique commons space -- for everyone, not just for guests who stay with us. We’re changing Okoboji.”
This will be the third season that the duo has operated what was Abe’s of Okoboji, on nearby Sanborn Avenue. Following the 2014 redesign of the rooms, they reopened Abe’s as the Vintage Block Inn and Suites, which Leigh describes as, “one of the most quaint and exciting motels around.”
While Katzfey’s background is in hospitality management, Leigh is a degreed accountant who owns her own interior design business near the Vintage Block.
ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa | Central Emporium, the historic lakefront mall that has overlooked West Lake Okoboji for more than a century, has been pur…
Shane Neavin, right, of Transition Homes, gets an update on the progress at the Okoboji Commons Hotel, from his foreman, Ed Sullivan. Transition’s crews worked through the winter in an effort to make the planned June 1 opening of the 70-unit hotel a reality.
