(Click to enlarge.)

Danco, the Arcata-based development company working to purchase the defunct Downtowner Motel, has hung a couple of banners on the cyclone fence that surrounds the decrepit eyesore. The company had previously announced its intention to buy the property from construction company owner Kevin McKenny, whose February appointment to the county planning commission caused a bit of an uproar due to his failure to develop the site.

The banners feature conceptual drawings of Danco’s planned project, a 49-unit, low-income senior housing development called The Lodge at Eureka. It looks like the project will occupy roughly the same L-shaped footprint as the Downtowner, and according to the banners it will feature a gym, a community room, an onsite cooking area and a swimming pool and jacuzzi. 

Danco Vice President Chris Dart told the Times-Standard last month that it will take about 18 months to gather the necessary financing, which, according to the banners, will come from such sources as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, state tax credits, the City of Eureka and Citibank, along with the Danco Group’s own low-income housing company. Kevin McKenny remains the registered owner of the property.

So far, there has been no sign of conceptual drawings for the interior of The Lodge at Eureka, but we’re hoping it might resemble a certain dreamy lodge in the Pacific Northwest.

Regardless, the target completion date is Spring 2016.

Previously: