CHEYENNE — The historic Plains Hotel, which has been for sale since last year, appears to have a buyer.
Cheyenne-based 1833 Enterprises has put in a bid to buy the hotel at the corner of Central Avenue and W Lincolnway in the capital city’s downtown, according to a media release sent to Cowboy State Daily.
Noah Rawlings, the 29-year-old founder of 1833 Enterprises, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday afternoon that his offer to buy the Plains Hotel isn’t really about turning a profit, although he hopes one day it will eventually at least break even.
“I think there’s a lot of potential in the future of Cheyenne,” he said. “But you don’t buy the Plains to make money. You buy it to restore it.”
Rawlings added that he’s talked with lots of people in city and state government about the hotel before finally making the decision to buy it.
“After touring it and doing a lot of research and kind of learning the history of it and the desire of the city and other stakeholders downtown to really kind of turbo-charge that area, I decided to go for it,” Rawlings said. “So, we sent in our offer yesterday, and we’re hoping to hear back soon and close on it.
“If Astrid’s ready to go, I’m ready to go as well.”
Rawlings said that he has offered the hotel’s owner, Astrid, who doesn’t have a last name, her 2023 asking price.
Astrid told Cowboy State Daily last year that she was seeking $5.85 million for the hotel, after putting money into it to an extended stay hotel.
Part Of A Larger Effort
“The Plains is going to need a lot of work to be at the same level as like the Armstrong Hotel in Fort Collins,” Rawlings said.
He plans to have more details about the larger picture in coming days, but added that the effort could include restoration of the Hynds Building, as well as the burned out pit next to it.
“We would hope at some point we could get the Plains into a Hilton, or Marriott, or Hyatt,” Rawlings said. “They each have their own kind of branding for that, but they all have parking requirements. So, we’d need a parking garage.”
Rawlings suggested that could be one use for the location where the pit is now located.
“I think that could be a great use for it, because it’s close,” Rawlings said. “But there are also other sites available nearby for parking garage space, and it would be kind of sad to make that a parking garage because it’s so central to the square.”
Another option for the Hynds could be to turn the pit and the Hynds into a mixed-use development, Rawlings said.
(Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
The lobby at the historic Plains Hotel in Cheyenne is impressive. (Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
(Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
(Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
(Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
One of the hotel's historic neon signs. (Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
The dining room at the Plains Hotel in its heyday. (Courtesy Plains Hotel) 
Looking down on the elaborate lobby. (Courtesy Plains Hotel)
Bringing Magic Back To The Magic City
That kind of transformation to an area of Cheyenne that’s become somewhat run down and tired is exciting, Mayor Patrick Collins told Cowboy State Daily.
“Noah is new to the community,” Collins said. “And I think he has a lot of capabilities, so my hope would be that this really does happen.”
Rawlings told Cowboy State Daily his background includes a couple of years of Wall Street experience, as well as starting a couple of media and technology companies.
“I managed the lead singer of a band called Cage the Elephant and a bunch of other well-known rock music writers and lead singers as well,” he said. “I’ve been in Cheyenne since, I guess January, when I registered as a lobbyist.”
Restoring the Plains Hotel and the Hynds building would bring new vitality to a part of Cheyenne that is a busy intersection, with more than 20,000 cars passing daily.
“If that was really full and active, bringing people from all over the world to downtown, it would make all the difference in the world,” Collins said. “But these projects are tough, so we can just cross our fingers and hope.”
Rawlings said he expects to sink around $32 million into restoration of the Plains Hotel to its former 1911 glory, when it was once at the heart of why Cheyenne was known as the Magic City on the Plains.
The Plains Hotel was conceived during the Industrial Club’s annual 1909 dinner as a grand hotel, a place that would fire imaginations and bring people to the city. That’s what Rawlings said he hopes the Plains will become again, adding that it was Cowboy State Daily’s 2023 article that first inspired him to consider buying the hotel.
“It’s going to be a hard thing to take on the Plains, it’s not an easy project,” Rawlings said. “It’s a landmark in the historic sense, and it’s going to be an uphill battle solving the parking issue. It’s something that I hope to own for 50-plus years. I hope it’s still owned by some entity related to me when I die.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
