A Howard Johnson hotel franchisee is fanning new life into the long-vacant Trade Winds Motor Inn on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and Lincoln Street downtown.

David Malik, a principal in Portland-based franchisee Comfort Hospitality LLC, says he leads an ownership group that recently bought the shuttered hotel at 907 W. Third.

Malik says Comfort Hospitality plans to invest $3 million in building upgrades, while maintaining the midcentury-modern character of the four-story structure, which has a unique curved design.

The restored hotel will have 60 rooms with the possibility for future expansion, he says.

The project will include filling in and eliminating the outdoor pool that had been in front of the motel.

Associated Construction Corp. 1, of Kent, which does business as ACC1, is the contractor on the renovation project, Malik says.

An application for a building permit, which the city of Spokane issued early this week, shows Architecture & Engineering Solutions LLC is designing the renovation project.

Malik says the hotel will open under the Howard Johnson name as soon as October.

Noting the Trade Winds’ proximity to Interstate 90 entrance and exit ramps, Mark Richard, president of Downtown Spokane Partnership, says the project will revitalize one of Spokane’s major entrances.

“This investment is extremely important for downtown Spokane,” Richard says in a press release about the new owner’s plans to restore the hotel. “The location sets the first and last impression for many visitors to the area.”

Mark Pinch, of Spokane-based commercial real estate brokerage NAI Black, negotiated the transaction, the terms of which weren’t disclosed.

Pinch and NAI Black CEO David Black had owned the Trade Winds since 1998.