JEFF DEBOOY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ledohowski says he's already got his eye on a couple of possible acquisitions in western Ontario.

A one-city hotel operation until last month, Leo Ledohowski says Canad Corp. will be a regional chain targeting travellers within a five-hour drive of Winnipeg by Christmas 2004.

Fresh off the acquisition of the Westward Hotel Resort & Conference Centre in Portage la Prairie on Jan. 31 and with letters of understanding signed for two new projects in both Brandon and Grand Forks, Canad's president and CEO said he's only just begun.

Ledohowski said he's already got his eye on a couple of possible acquisitions in what he calls "western" Ontario, which he hopes will be finalized sometime this year.

"Winnipeg is the big city for a fairly large area including northern Minnesota, the Dakotas, eastern Saskatchewan, western Manitoba and western Ontario," he said in an interview.

"These are natural markets for us and we'll use Winnipeg as the hub."

The newly christened Canad Inns-Portage la Prairie combines a hotel, shopping centre, curling rink and convention facility in 200,000 square feet of space and Ledohowski said he plans to spend about $3 million in upgrades, including nearly tripling its 15,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. He is particularly pumped about his two works in progress, both of which are in the pre-construction stages and are scheduled to open in time for December 2004. He said the new, 160-room property in Brandon, which will be built adjacent to the Keystone Centre, will also have 1,500 seats for food and beverage.

"There are massive banquet and convention facilities there," he said, adding Canad will also handle the banquet services duties at the Keystone Centre.

The banquet business will be even larger in the 192-room hotel to be built next to the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, which has 18 meeting rooms and a 2,000-person banquet hall. Ledohowski said the artificial turf inside the stadium can be rolled up to allow as many as 5,000 people to be seated in the 100,000-square-foot space.

Michael R. Brown, the mayor of Grand Forks, said he expects the agreement with Canad to be finalized shortly.

"We're behind this deal and we look forward to working with Leo and his team. Convention centres typically have hotels and we think this will raise the occupancy in the whole city because we'll be bringing more traffic to the community," he said in an interview.

Brown noted Grand Forks also plans to build a $2-million US waterpark, complete with a maze of waterslides, adjacent to the Alerus Center. Dan Schenkein, president of the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, said one of the last hurdles is finalizing the municipal issue of permitting Canad to build on city-owned land.

"There are experts in convention and meeting facilities that will point out in order to be successful you have to have a hotel attached to a facility like (the Alerus Center). The chamber is very supportive of continued development in our community," he said in a recent interview.

Ledohowski said the company is in the process of finalizing the legal documentation for Brandon and Grand Forks and is proceeding with getting permits, doing soil testing and touching up the buildings' designs.

Future expansion will likely be on a franchise basis, Ledohowski said, adding he's looking at potential franchisees in both western and eastern Canada to open in the fall of 2004.

"I get about one phone call a month asking about franchising," he said.

Jim Baker, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, called Ledohowski's plans "ambitious" in an environment when most entrepreneurs are scaling back.

"The economics of the industry are it's three years from plan to opening, but with interest rates being so low, maybe now is a good time. (Canad Corp.) is positioned to take care of a growing market and they're looking at getting marketshare from other properties," he said in an interview.

Ledohowski's actions also fly in the face of recent industry trends. According to a report released two weeks ago by Colliers International Hotels, Canadian hotel transaction volume reached an estimated $540 million in 2002, down about 18 per cent from 2001's $656 million and 59 per cent lower than the $1.3 billion spent in 1998. The Brandon and Grand Forks projects will cost in the neighbourhood of $16 million each, the bulk of which will be covered internally and with debt financing. Ledohowski said he is also exploring the possibility of taking the company public at some point as well, although he's not sure what form it might take.

Once the Grand Forks and Brandon facilities are up and running, Canad's portfolio will consist of 10 hotels, seven of which are in Winnipeg.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca