Courtesy Mohican Resort Hotel
By Christine Graf
With the purchase the Mohican Resort Motel, local entrepreneur Chad Nims has entered the hospitality industry.
Nims purchased the 44-room resort for $1.7 million after the Lake George property, north of the Outlets at lake George and south of the lake itself, was foreclosed on.
Nims, the owner of Nims Services, established his landscaping and snowplowing company in 2003 while a senior at Hudson Falls High School. As the company grew, he began offering excavating, paving, construction, and trucking services.
“I had a lot of friends from high school who came to work with me and really helped out,” said Nims. “They played a major role in helping me grow the business during the first 10 years. Over that time, I kept expanding, adding employees, and offering more services.”
“We do everything from paving parking lots to interior construction fit ups. We do demolition for a lot of the malls, and we’ve done a lot of work at Crossgates and Aviation.”
Four years ago, Nims added Tree Care by Stan Hunt and Stan Hunt Pest Control to his business portfolio. He also owns several commercial buildings and approximately 70 apartments.
Depending on the time of year, Nims has between 70 and 100 employees.
Before purchasing the Mohican in February, he oversaw operation at the property for more than a year.
“I got involved about a year-and-a-half ago when the property was going into foreclosure. I had full intentions of purchasing the property once the foreclosure was over,” he said. “The previous owners, the Starks, were great to me. With their assistance, I went in and took it over. It’s a pretty complex property, and they showed me the ropes of what needed to be done.”
In addition to suites, the resort features townhouse-style rooms. The 4.5-acre property also includes a boat storage building as well as a single-family home.
Even before purchasing the Mohican, Nims spent $400,000 on renovations.
“It was a little risky, but I was confident,” he said. “I redid the indoor pool, repainted a lot of the rooms, put in new flooring, new bedding, and new TVs. I upgraded the Wi-Fi, installed a new security system, and did tons of other things.”
Nims also renovated the single-family home located on the property. Formerly occupied by the Starks family, it is now occupied by a rental tenant. The property’s boat storage facility is rented to Boats by George.
More renovations are slated for next year, including renovation of the outdoor pool and patio as well as the hotel entrance. The parking lot will also be repaved.
According to Nims, the manager and staff hired to run the Mohican are exceeding his expectations. Five employees will staff the resort during the off season, and that number will increase to 10 during the busy summer months. The resort will be open year-round.
During the off-season, the indoor pool will be available for pool party rentals. It has an attached game room.
“We have two blocks of times on Saturday, and two on Sunday,” said Nims. “One of our staff members, Kim, came up the idea for pool parties, and we were fully booked this whole winter.”
Nims said he is on the lookout for additional resort properties in the Lake George area.
“If any opportunities arise where I can get a good deal, I would like to do more and would love to get up more toward the lake. That’s my long-term plan,” he said.
For more information, visit mohicanmotel.com.