An Oregon hotelier, who owns several motels along the Interstate 5 corridor, has plans to purchase and renovate the Timber Inn in Coos Bay.

Proposed changes include a new roof, new rooms — and a new name.

Amandeep Virk has signed an agreement with Super 8 to open a franchise at 1001 N. Bayshore Drive, the vacant Timber Inn.

Reached by phone Monday, Virk said he plans to reopen the motel sometime in January 2009. By then, he said there will be some significant changes to the motel, both inside and out.

Exterior wood frames are slated to be replaced by stucco siding, which will be topped with a new roof. Inside, each room will be remodeled, with new carpets, new windows, new bathroom fixtures and new plasma-screen televisions. And rooms will all have air conditioning, which wasn’t available before.

“Basically everything’s new,” he said.

Virk also has plans for an indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, fitness center, lobby and laundry room. To make space for these new additions, as well as some extra motel rooms, the existing lounge and restaurant will be removed.

Virk already owns a Super 8 franchise in Creswell, in addition to a La Quinta Inn in Wilsonville and the Best Western Garden Villa Inn in Roseburg. He is managing director of Virk Hospitality Coos Bay Inc., the entity slated to purchase the property.

The deal was originally scheduled to close by Sept. 30, but escrow isn’t expected until mid-October, said Ron Green, executive vice president with Oregon Pacific Banking Co.

“As a lot of sales agreements are, there’s a lot of due diligence to be done,” Green said. “I would say that in the event that this sales transaction doesn’t close, we will list it immediately.”

Oregon Pacific Bank has owned the Timber Inn since June 9, after foreclosing on the property. The previous owners, Leo and Donis Frare, purchased the Timber Inn in 2003. During their watch, the motel celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006.

Donis Frare told The World in January that the motel was closing for financial reasons and because her husband was in poor health.

Green said he thinks the community will be happy with the change.

“If it’s anything like what this individual’s hoping to accomplish, I think you’ll be very pleased,” he said.

Virk said he wants to get to work as soon as possible to avoid weather-related delays. Designs have been prepared by McSwain & Woods AIA Architects & Planners, Virk said. He also went with a local provider for insurance, Abel Insurance.

He said his plan is to provide the area with another upscale motel, comparing it to the Red Lion Hotel, Best Western Holiday Motel, The Edgewater Inn and The Mill Casino-Hotel.

The Timber Inn’s close proximity to the casino, as well as Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, contributed to Virk’s decision to purchase the property.

“Location-wise, it’s a good spot for a Super 8,” he said, noting it is hard to miss driving past on U.S. Highway 101.

Rob Myers, a communication coordinator for Wyndham Hotel Group, said the company finalized a franchise agreement with Virk in June. Based in Parsippany, N.J., Wyndham Hotel Group franchises nearly 6,500 hotels under 10 brands, including Super 8. This would be the first Super 8 on the Oregon Coast, according to Wyndham’s Web site.

Not long after the bank assumed ownership, a couple of windows and doors were broken and the bank discovered people had been living in it. The windows and doors are now boarded and garbage was removed.

Since then, the bank has hired a security company to patrol the site a couple of times a day, Green said, adding that bank employees also visit the property a few times a day.

Additionally, the bank hired a landscape company to keep the property looking clean.