The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Varsity South this week, marking the completion of the last of three local hotels converted to host a combination of overnight rooms and studio apartments.
“Really, this is a grand opening for all three of our properties here in Centralia, Varsity South, Varsity North and (Varsity West),” Sage Investment Group Community Relations Director Whitney Wilkins said during the Wednesday afternoon event. “We're so excited to have all of them open.”
Wilkins led staff from Sage Investment Group, the owner of the three Varsity properties, in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, declaring Varsity South officially open.
Even as the ribbon was cut, the three buildings were already in operation.
The first of the buildings, Variety West, a former Motel 6 first renamed as Valley View, has been operating for over a year as a combination of motel rooms on the first floor and residential studio apartments on the second floor.
The official finish of the conversion comes roughly four years after the purchase of the old Motel 6 in 2022. It has been a roller coaster ever since, as the desired end result has shifted multiple times from market rate apartments to permanent supportive housing to the current mixed use model.
According to area manager Samantha Aguilar with Coast Property Management, which manages the residential properties at the three Varsity Inn and Studios sites, seven apartments in the building are already occupied.
Rent for a studio apartment in the newest building, The Varsity South, is listed starting at $1,125 a month, according to the Varsity South website. That doesn’t include a flat utility fee of $179 that, according Aguilar, pays for all essential utilities including water, power, garbage and internet. Studio apartments throughout the three Varsity buildings range from $945 and $1,199 before accounting for utilities.
The Varsity South has 52 total residential units while The Varsity North has 54 residential units and the Varsity West has another 69 residential units. The first two buildings are hovering just under 100% occupancy at the moment with 52 filled at The Varsity North and 64 units filled at The Varsity West.
Aguilar and Coast Property Management Regional Manager Meghan Heffernan said during the recent event that apartments in the first two Varsity buildings filled up quickly, and they expect the same from the new building.
“Our first buildings, we had them filled I want to say within two months,” Aguilar said.
According to Travis Romine, an area general manager with iQon Hospitality, which manages the motel side of The Varsity, the main street building began taking guests immediately after the Wednesday ribbon-cutting ceremony. A Google hotels listing shows the rooms listed for $35 a night. The Varsity North and The Varsity West have already been renting rooms at $59 and $81 a night respectively, according to recent online listings.
The Varsity South has 40 hotel rooms available for short-term stays. The Varsity North has 42 hotel rooms, and The Varsity West has another 53 hotel rooms available.
After the ribbon cutting, Wilkins said the grand opening represented lots of hard work and cooperation with the City of Centralia to come to an agreement on the new model that combines hotel rooms and residential studio apartments.
“Usually, we just do the whole property, studio apartments,” Wilkins said. “But again, understanding the needs of this community and what keeps this community driving, we were happy to alter our model.”
What the buildings eventually became fluctuated frequently after Sage Investment Group purchased the three former hotels, with the Centralia City Council originally expecting low cost apartments or permanent supportive housing, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle. Permanent supportive housing in Washington state refers to subsidized housing with special accommodations for lessees.
Later, the local government agreed to a mixed use zoning and business model to maintain motel lodging to support the nearby NW Sports Hub and capture Washington state lodging tax revenue.
Sage Investments LLC purchased the first of the three buildings — the former Motel 6 and now The Varsity West — in 2022. At the time, co-owner of Sage Investment Group Emily Hubbard told The Chronicle that Sage hoped to convert the building into “nice, affordable” studio apartments, but specified they did not plan to develop subsidized or transitional housing in the building.
The story continued to develop over the years as Emily and her husband and co-owner Ron Hubbard purchased the building that opened this week, Centralia’s old OYO Hotel, in early 2023. As The Chronicle previously reported, the ownership transition of the mainstreet motel became a moment of crisis shortly after the purchase when as many as 57 long-term tenants who called the hotel home were told to leave with three days notice.
Their eviction was temporarily put on hold as the new ownership group worked with the City of Centralia and local nonprofits including The Salvation Army of Lewis County to find a new permanent home for the tenants. The tenants were eventually offered rooms in the former King Oscar Motel for $1,400 a month. Less than a year later, The Chronicle reported that Sage Investment Group had purchased the King Oscar as well, making it the third and final addition to the group's Centralia holdings.
After the purchase of the three buildings, development was further delayed over zoning issues. Sage Investment Group originally came to the Centralia City Council with a request that the city change zoning restrictions in the area to allow the hotels to be converted into market-rate apartments. The council, however, shot the request down in 2023, with local real estate company owner and former Centralia City Councilor Max Vogt providing the single vote in favor of the change.
Without a change, the buildings could only be used for permanent supportive housing or hotel/motel lodging. In May of 2024, roughly eight months after the initial vote, Sage Investment Group came back to the council with a similar request and proposal that they would convert the buildings into a mixed use of hotel rooms and studio apartments. The council approved the request, allowing the investment group to move forward with renovation of the buildings.
The group opened The Varsity West near the Centralia outlets first at the beginning of 2025. Sage Investment Group began renting rooms at the Varsity North in July, according to Heffernan, and came to a development group for that building and the Varsity South, the former King Oscar and OYO motels in August 2025, originally hoping to open both buildings in the fall of last year.
For previous reporting by the Chronicle on the recent development of the newly opened building, visit https://tinyurl.com/47u24ud9.
