The hotel, which is slated to have 93 rooms, two restaurants and a spa, would be built on Lake Flower Avenue, where three motels — the Lake Side Motel, the Adirondack Motel and the Lake Flower Inn — currently stand.

After years of trying, David Manning finally sold his Lake Side Motel to Saranac Lake Resort Owners LLC on May 30. About two weeks later, he died. Fred and Susan Mueller of the Adirondack Motel and Kim Walasky of the Lake Flower Inn sold their properties Wednesday.

The Lake Side Motel and part of the Adirondack Motel have been gated off. Walasky had a garage sale set up at her place, selling tools, old music systems and a ride-on mower.

The motel owners were waiting to sell for the past five years. The Lake Flower Resort and Spa project began by Chris LaBarge of Malone in 2013. Two years later, a new group owned by Leland C. “Lee” Pillsbury and Mark Pacala took over as the developers under the name Saranac Lake Resort LLC. The name of the group that purchased the three motels recently is slightly different, Saranac Lake Resort Owners LLC. Matthew Norfolk of the Briggs Norfolk law firm in Lake Placid, who is representing the developers, wouldn’t say whether Pillsbury or Pacala are still involved with the project.

The LakeSide motel, along with the Adirondack Motel and Lake Flower Inn were fenced in Thursday, one day after the properties were sold to developers of the Lake Flower Resort and Spa. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

The sale prices were not included in the deed transfers. Instead, all three documents say the resort owners bought the properties for $1 apiece, which essentially acts as a placeholder.

Norfolk commented on the closures, saying the developers are excited for the next phase of the project.

In a Facebook post, village Mayor Clyde Rabideau wished the investors well and said, “demolition will start late next month according to our sources.”

It’s been almost two years since the Saranac Lake village Development Board approved the Lake Flower Resort’s site plan on July 7, 2016, and a year-and-a-half since it approved a modified version on Dec. 6 of that year. Normally a developer has to start the project within one year of approval, but Paul Blaine, the village’s development code administrator, said this project was delayed by an Article 78 lawsuit filed in August 2016 by Roedel Companies, which redid the Hotel Saranac and viewed the Lake Flower Resort as a rival.

Roedel Companies dropped its suit in July 2017, which gave Saranac Lake Resort LLC until this June 24 to apply for building permit, according to Blaine. But in February the village gave the developers a one-year extension, so now they have until June 24, 2019 to apply for a building permit. Once they apply, they’ll have two years to finish the job before getting a certificate of occupancy.

They’ll also need a village permit to demolish the motels. Blaine said a contractor has contacted the code enforcement office about getting a demolition permit but hasn’t applied for one yet.

The Adirondack Park Agency approved the project in February 2017.

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Managing Editor Peter Crowley contributed to this report.