Here we go again. Beautiful Pelican, Alaska is the location of the Wheelwatch Lodge and Lounge, a business opportunity available at a now-unheard of price!
This is it--the Wheelwatch Lodge and Lounge, and also site of Pelican's only grocery store, Pel-Mart.
Owners are motivated to sell. That would be me and Mick. It's time. We've looked at what we want and what is important to us. We want to keep our daughters in school down in Oregon and we want to spend more time together. Plus, we want to get back into commercial fishing. So, given the current state of the economy and the current state of the real estate market, here's the deal:
The (firm) asking price for the Wheelwatch Lodge and Lounge is $295,000.00. Yes, that's right--$295,000.00. Down from the previous asking price of $645,000. This is a commercial property and quite the business opportunity, just right for someone looking for a unique lifestyle experience and a business and built-in home to call their own.
The building is approximately 5000 square feet. Downstairs is the bar, commercial kitchen, tiny grocery store, two restrooms and storage. Upstairs houses three separate units. We remodeled after moving to Oregon for the school years, making the upstairs at the Wheelwatch now less than ideal for our family of four humans, one of whom is autistic, and four pets, two of whom are bulldogs with apparently tiny bladders. For the right person, though, the configuration upstairs is great.
Our living quarters have that fabulous, uninterrupted view of Lisianski Inlet and those incredible mountains. Large living/ dining area, snack bar with sink, good-sized bedroom and bathroom. The "old" guest quarters are what we used most recently for employees and/ or additional family members. That consists of two good-sized bedrooms, a huge bathroom, and a kitchenette. The new guest quarters also look out the front of the building and is really very nice. One locking bedroom and another open bedroom/ sitting room and a bathroom. This guest suite contains four double beds and two futons, in addition to tables, lamps, and drapes. All included in the price.
There is a large shop right across the boardwalk from the main building. This provides a great deal of storage as well as freezers and a large cooler. Next to the shop and right across from the dining room/ store is an empty lot. An empty lot with that breath-taking view. That lot is part of the deal, too. When you own it, you needn't worry about someone building on it and blocking your view.
There is a box van that is thrown into this deal. Ugly Truck is a life saver in Pelican. We have used it for hauling freight and then bring it out on the state ferry. This has saved us a great deal of money since we purchased the eyesore.
All the stock, equipment, furniture, fishing pictures, pool table, ALL OF IT, is included in the price of $295,000.
In addition to the business is a 26 foot Bayliner for sale for $12,000. It was recently appraised for more than twice that price.
With all these bargains it would be natural for a potential buyer to wonder what is wrong with the place. Honestly, nothing. If Mick and I didn't have kids, we'd live up there full time. It was a lifestyle that we loved and one of the most beautiful and unique places on earth. Living in such a small community is quite the experience and a personal education, too.
But our youngest is autistic and in order to meet her needs, we can't live in Pelican year-round. We've been doing the long-distance marriage, but this year was harder than most because the kids, pets, and I didn't go up to Pelican for the summer, so we've spent much more time apart than in the past. As the saying goes, that's a real drag.
So as I suggested before, we've done some soul-searching and have asked ourselves some serious questions. What do we really want? What is really important to us?
Sure, it hurts a little to think about selling the place for less than what we paid for it. No doubt. And a lot of Americans are having that same experience. I'm sure the real estate markets will eventually rebound. But do we want to wait that long? We could, but no, we really don't want to.
We thought we'd sold this business this past spring and when that potential buyer backed out at the last minute without explanation or any attempt to work out WHATEVER the problem had been, we were stunned, placed in a precarious financial position, and VERY disappointed. We hadn't realized until that point just how much we'd looked forward to living the commercial fishing lifestyle again.
Because of this sour experience, we decided that we can't carry a contract with anyone. There is just too much room for disaster to strike. And we want to make a clean break and start a new life. We can, however, lower our asking price to make it very inviting, one could even say IRRESISTIBLE to the right person.
This offer is on the table for only a very limited time. If we don't sell it soon, we won't sell it. We'll either hold on to it and keep working it and figure out how to address the challenges of pets and an autistic child, or we will wait until the real estate market recovers, and then sell it at a much higher price.
If you know anyone who might be interested in this intriguing proposition, this real estate steal, please direct them our way. Serious buyers can email me at chickenandsponge@yahoo.com. You can also visit www.wheelwatch.net to see more pictures and to get a feel for the place.
The float plane is one of the main modes of transportation in and out of Pelican. There are regular flights. Honestly, it's not bad at all.
The fishing around Pelican is unbelievable and there is much fun to be had.
