Members of a Canadian investment group that owns a Howard Johnson Inn here are considering buying the Budget Inn, at 110 E. Fourth, from Spokane-based WestCoast Hospitality Corp. and marketing the hotel to families of medical patients who are being treated in Spokanes nearby hospital district.


Rene Montgomery, operations manager at the Howard Johnson Inn, at 211 S. Division, says some members of the investment group, Musafar Investments LLC, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, have formed a second company there, called Knightsbridge Investments LLC, to buy the 153-room Spokane hotel.


Its unclear yet which hotel chain the new group would affiliate the hotel with following the purchase, but the property likely wouldnt be operated as a Howard Johnson, Montgomery says. She says that a new name for the hotel also hasnt been determined yet.


Knightsbridge currently is inspecting the Budget Inn hotel here to determine how much renovation work would be needed. The inspections should be completed by the end of this month, and the sale transaction could be completed as early as next year, Montgomery says.


If the sale proceeds, Knightsbridge expects to spend about $2.5 million remodeling the hotel, Montgomery says. The work would include enclosing the hotels swimming pool and bringing the building into compliance with regulations set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act, she says.


Knightsbridge also intends to keep all of the hotels 153 guest rooms, but currently is deciding how it would reconfigure the facilitys public spaces, such as restaurants and meeting rooms.


The Budget Inn, which until earlier this year had been named Cavanaughs Fourth Avenue, is owned by WestCoast Hospitality. Its located south of Interstate 90 in the South Hill medical district. The hotel is WestCoast Hospitalitys only budget-type operation.


WestCoast Hospitality officials couldnt be reached for comment.