The building of the former Hotel Braams in Gieten will house 22 apartments, 5 other homes and a catering facility. The current building will not be demolished, but the interior will be extensively renovated.
The GroenLinks faction in the municipality of Aa en Hunze had asked questions to the municipal council about the future of the former hotel. The answers show that the building is in for quite a transformation.
The complete complex in the center of Gieten consists of a hotel building with 41 rooms, a café-restaurant and a large banquet hall. According to owner and real estate developer Sander Dragtstra, the majority will not be demolished. “That was also an explicit wish from the municipality, because of the history of the building.”
Most of the buildings will be owner-occupied, but some may also be rented out. According to the real estate developer, that depends on investors. Dragtstra is still discussing the details of the new catering industry with a number of potential operators. However, it will probably be daytime catering.
Hotel Braams has a turbulent history. The building has been a catering facility since 1617. Just under 400 years ago, in 2016, the hotel went bankrupt, much to the sadness of the village. Almost immediately, a care institution showed interest in housing an assisted living project in the building, but the municipality did not want to cooperate.
At the end of 2016, the hotel was sold to three entrepreneurs from Gieten and Midwolde, but they sold the property to a project developer less than a year later. He sold it on to a care institution, which wanted to establish a residential care center for elderly people with dementia.
Only that care institution went bankrupt in 2019, without even an elderly person living there. The property was sold again, this time to investors. They in turn sold the property in the summer of 2021 to the current owner, SD Projecten from Emmen.
So there is a glimmer of hope for the former hotel, although the future plans have not yet been fully worked out according to the current developer. It is not yet known when Dragstra wants to start working with Hotel Braams. Moreover, the city council will have to consider it in the future.
The mayor and aldermen write that they are cooperating with Dragtstra’s plans.