Closed inn, restaurant on Wilbraham’s Nine Mile Pond set for rebirth with hotel, new eatery
WILBRAHAM — Business partners John Sullivan and Joe Sullivan have bought the former Lakeside Inn and Anchor House Restaurant property overlooking Nine Mile Pond.
They have plans to reopen the landmark as a 15-room boutique hotel and restaurant that will be leased to another operator. Construction should last about a year.
"This will be a fun project," Joe Sullivan said while giving a tour of the restaurant Friday. "And lucrative."
Joe and John Sullivan, no relation, plan to turn the property into the Lakeside Hotel and Restaurant, which will house 15 rooms and a restaurant by 2026. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
It will be an upscale but casual restaurant with patio seating overlooking the lake, Joe Sullivan said. The two Sullivans — unrelated partners who own Nathan Bill's Bar & Restaurant, Sullivan's Allen Package Store and The Boulevard on Page Boulevard in Springfield, and East Village Tavern in East Longmeadow — will build out restaurant space.
John Sullivan said he can't wait to redesign the grounds — mostly a sloping lawn down to the lakeshore. He said he has come to enjoy the pair's real estate ventures.
"Up until now, we've always been tenants," he said.
Inside the property on Boston Road in Wilbraham, John Sullivan walks through what will be part of the restaurant. Joe and John Sullivan, no relation, plan to turn it into a boutique hotel and restaurant by 2026. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
They bought Island Pond Plaza — including Nathan Bill's real estate — this spring from Walgreens and are working to repopulate the plaza with tenants serving the needs of the East Forest Park neighborhood .
The Lakeside Inn and Anchor House Restaurant were built in the 1940s, according to town records, and the building at 2589 Boston Road has been closed as a restaurant since at least 2022. It's most recently been used as offices and parking for Friendly Ride Transportation, the business of Rene A. Romero.
John Sullivan walks across the lawn at the Lakeside Hotel and Restaurant property. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Romero sold the real estate to the Sullivans.
The price was $800,000, according to a deed filed Friday.
Joe Sullivan cannot yet name the restaurateur publicly but said it's a longtime friend whom he and John will mentor.
"Your return on a restaurant is directly related to the time you spend," Joe Sullivan said.
On the second floor Joe, left, and John Sullivan, no relation, look through old documents that are scattered on the floor. They plan to turn the property on Boston Road into a boutique hotel and restaurant by 2026. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Joe Sullivan recalled something a Wilbraham Planning Board member told him as the pair were getting the necessary approvals over the past few weeks. He described himself and John Sullivan as being in the hospitality business.
"He said, 'You know you are a real estate developer, right?" Joe Sullivan said.
This is their first hotel. So they've met with industry leaders and did a market study, determining that a 15-room, relatively small hotel would fit the market best.
The Anchor House Restaurant is at 2589 Boston Road in Wilbraham. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)
There is only one hotel in Wilbraham now, but not with a lakeside setting. They expect parents' weekends at Wilbraham and Monson Academy, traveling nurses and other customers to help them stay full with guests.
The Lakeside Inn on Boston Road in Wilbraham in 1990. (The Republican, File)The Republican
The upper floors of the building show wear and tear and the scars of having been closed. They plan to open in 2026.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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