Around Town Woodland

Historic Hotel to be Re-born

New vision planned for Capital Hotel

By Crystal Lee

The historic Capital Hotel in Woodland’s downtown is expected to open this fall fully restored and with an expansion to the back of building. The 12,000-square-foot, three-story 1868 Italianate-style brick building at 601 Main St. had been vacant for several years. Pilot Properties in Elk Grove bought the building in 2006 and construction began early this year.

Pilot Properties CEO Tim Mullikin plans to convert each floor of the building into restaurant, office and lofts space. Mullikin said he expects work on the entire building to be complete in October.

If the timing is right, the ground-level restaurant could also be opening that same month, he said. “All the permits are in,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of working full speed ahead.”

The restaurant, which has an alcohol license, will operate as Capital Saloon & Grill unless someone makes an offer to rent the space, Mullikin said. In which case, the tenant can serve any type of food and operate under a different name if desired. “I always like to be flexible,” Mullikin said.

Recently, Mullikin chose charcoal, green and white paint colors for the building’s exterior and the foundation is being laid for the one- story, 3,000-square-foot expansion in the back. The framing and plumbing is also being put in for office space and five 500- to 900-square-foot lofts for lease on the second and third floors, respectively.

Mullikin said he hasn’t “really pushed it” yet, but there has been some interest in the lofts. He said he also hopes to find tenants for the offices soon, since the area can still be adapted to tenants’ requests.

The building was originally called the Planter House before being renamed the Capital Hotel. It had 54 rooms and also included a barbershop and saloon on the premises. A Mexican restaurant and bar that was open for several years in the 1990s was the building’s most recent tenant.