
PERHAM — The new faces behind the ownership of Silvermoon Steakhouse & Lounge are now well known , but there's even more to the story: the new owners of the building itself, including the old connected motel. AFIC LLC, a Detroit Lakes-based investment company made up of three partners, closed on their purchase of the property on Jan. 10. As the owners of the structure itself, they lease the property to Jennifer Smith and Todd and Cindy Murphy — the owners of the Silvermoon business.
"We're going to put a lot of money into it to just bring everything current and up to date," said Dave Neisen, a real estate broker and one of the three partners with AFIC. "(We'll finish a) complete remodel of all the motel rooms and turn them all into nice rental properties for residents of Perham because it is a big need in Perham."
Although Neisen lives in Detroit Lakes now, he was a Perham resident from 1991-2017. Because of his history with the Perham area, he's aware of the community's growth and its current need for residential properties.
By the end of the old motel's renovations, they will end up with ten available rental properties. There are two units currently being rented to residents. Those residents will be moved to a newly-renovated space in the building once they're available, in order to not displace them.
"We could've put some soap and water in (the units) and cleaned them up, but we don't want to do that," Neisen said about the renovation plans. "We want to get them cleaned up and looking new before we move any tenants in … We're just going to give the outside of the building a total face-lift. We're going to put in new windows, new doors, new siding. And in the interiors, most of the rooms that are in there will be gutted out and redone to make them look new. New appliances, new cabinets, new bathrooms."
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The demolition portion of the renovations has already started, with the rooms being gutted and furniture being removed. Neisen said they hope to have the interiors complete within the next couple of months. Once the weather gets nicer, they'll work on redoing the entire exterior of the building.
While AFIC has a lot of plans for the old motel portion of the building, they also plan on improving the restaurant and bar of Silvermoon. A lot of that will involve redoing the heating and electrical, but Neisen mentioned they'll also give a bit of a "lift" to the face of the interior.
He believes that the entire building is in need of a "complete resurrection," and the community will start seeing the property's exterior rise from the ashes of chipped paint and broken doors once nicer weather comes around.
"I want to thank (the Perham area) for all the years that I was involved in the community," Neisen said. "I'm still involved in other aspects of the community and look to help the community to continue to grow."