The Greens Hotel – an ecologically friendly boutique hotel in North Sacramento – was listed for sale on loopnet.com on the first week in May with an asking price of $1.4 million by owner Dan Friedlander.

Friedlander said Monday he has received three "solid offers," but he's not sure if he will accept any of them, adding that he prefers to have the hotel managed by someone who will take it forward in the same vein.

After about a decade in the works and a mere two years in operation, Friedlander – who is from Sacramento but lives in San Francisco – said being an absentee landowner visiting the site once every two or three weeks is just not working out.

“I thought I could do it, but it just takes more than that,” Friedlander said.

The hotel is located at 1700 Del Paso Blvd., not far from Highway 160 and Interstate 80, and a five-minute drive from downtown.

Friedlander said he believes Del Paso Boulevard will go through a renaissance and develop into something Sacramentans can be proud of, but that it takes time.

“In the not-too-distant future, Del Paso is going to be a walking street, and it’s just going to click,” Friedlander said. “Someday it will be what many of us see what it should be now. It just takes longer in Sacramento…it moves at a crawl rather than a faster clip.”

But Friedlander – who owns several buildings in the area as well as the retail store Limn Furniture on Arden Way – said he can’t wait that long, and he never intended to be a hotelier – preferring to design than manage and own.

Business has been spotty, Friedlander said, with the hotel nearly full some days and “quiet” on others.

Manager Rick Lahkar -- who came to the hotel about two months ago – said the property averages three to five guests per night, and there needs to be 14 per night to make it profitable. He added that the hotel has 26 rooms and a two-room suite. Lahkar most recently managed a hotel in Yuba City and previously worked in management at Marriott and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Sacramento.

“We offer very personalized service, and we get good reviews, but not enough people know about us,” Lahkar said. “For people to know about us, you have to spend a ton of money.”

Lahkar said for a boutique hotel to work, it is best to have on-site owners who also run the hotel. He added that he wasn’t sure if there are any in the Sacramento area, but he pictures it as an expanded form of a bed and breakfast.

Then there’s the perception of Del Paso Boulevard.

“I haven’t seen any changes in the past two months, and I don’t see any changes soon,” Lahkar said. “The city can’t afford to pump dollars in here, and Del Paso has been left by the wayside. The focus is on K Street.”

And with a street peppered with boarded-up buildings, Lahkar said he wonders who will put forth the money to invest in what could eventually be a successful neighborhood.

“I feel this is a great locality, and it is safe,” Lahkar said.

Photographer Doug Austin, owner of nearby Austin’s Uptown Studio, said Friedlander did a great job with the hotel.

“It was a run-down magnet for drugs and prostitution before he took it over and completely redid it,” Austin said. “It is now an upscale complex in North Sacramento.”

Austin said he was glad Friedlander chose to invest in North Sacramento, and added that he hopes whoever eventually buys it has a similar investment strategy.

“We’re all disappointed that Dan is giving up on it,” Austin said. “He’s been a strong supporter of North Sac and bought properties and fixed them up. We just hope whoever takes it over has a commitment to the business and the community.”

Brandon Darnell is a reporter for The Sacramento Press.