Via the Detroit Free Press: Pontch to go on block at auction.

Detroit’s Hotel Pontchartrain, a downtown landmark that has long suffered slack sales in a weak hotel market, will be sold at auction in early March.

The 413-room hotel will be auctioned March 8 by a national asset disposition firm called Tranzon. Details of the bid process can be found on the firm’s Web site at http://www.tranzon.com.

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Built in 1965, the Pontch, as it has been known since its opening, was downtown’s first major hotel built since the 1920s. A landmark with its faceted façade that gives each room views of the Detroit River, the hotel has struggled for years in a weak downtown hotel market.

Industry experts have often said the downtown market typically averages about 50-percent occupancy, whereas occupancy levels in the 60- to 70-percent range are necessary for profitability.

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