California Investment Group Purchases Duluth-Based ZMC Hotels

Duluth-Based ZMC Hotels Purchased by Investment Group

In a blockbuster transaction, long-time Duluth-based hotelier ZMC Hotels has been acquired by a private investment group led by real estate investor and developer, Mark Hall, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Walnut Creek, CA-based Hall Equities Group (HEG).

The acquisition involves 29 hotels located in 10 states, including seven local hotels: the new Hampton Inn in Hibbing, MN; the Edgewater Hotel and Water Park; the Inn on Lake Superior; the Duluth Lakewalk Days Inn; and the Downtown Duluth motel – all located in Duluth. Also included is the Americinn located in Ashland, WI, and the Best Western Bridgeview, located in Superior, WI.

ZMC Hotels, locally owned by the Goldfine family, is a third-generation family-owned business with deep roots in the Duluth area.

ZMC Hotels got its start in 1969 and was originally an offshoot of the once prolific Goldfine’s Department Store chain of Duluth.

Ken Goldfine, Chief Executive Officer of ZMC Hotels stated that “after nearly fifty years of building ZMC Hotels into a nationally recognized hotel company, it has become time to turn it over to an organization with fresh energy and the financial resources that can move the business to the next level.”

Hall plans on retaining the heart of the ZMC management team headquartered in the region and all of the on-site staff at the area’s many hotels.

However, accounting and construction management functions will be consolidated into Hall Equities Group, which is Halls affiliated California-based operating company.

Mark Hall stated: “We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to acquire the organization and assets of ZMC Hotels. It is a rare occasion when one can acquire a company with the reputation, portfolio quality, and geographic coverage of ZMC Hotels. We look forward to carrying forward the successful legacy of ZMC for many years to come.”

Hall mentioned plans for several new hotel development projects to be handled by ZMC, including two new hotels in Scottsdale, Arizona, hotels in Northern California and Washington State, as well as an additional hotel locally in Superior, WI.