Another chapter in the saga of the former Holiday Inn at 521 Greenfield Road has come to an end.

And so might its life as a hotel.

Friday, High Real Estate Group announced its affiliate, High Properties, purchased the building and an adjacent parcel of land in a foreclosure sale conducted in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The hotel is operating as a Ramada Inn, but High, according to corporate spokesman John Sandy, has not purchased the hotel business, the Ramada Inn flag or the restaurant also on the property.

Regarding plans for the site, Nevin D. Cooley, president and CEO of High Real Estate Group, said in a prepared statement, "We do not currently plan to operate the facility as a hotel in the short term."

Sandy expects closing on the sale to take place "within the next 30 days."

He would not rule out the possibility that the building could again operate as a hotel.

"What we plan to do," Sandy said, "is go through a process of identifying and evaluating future uses of the property."

High Properties purchased the 4.5 acres on which the main hotel sits in June 2009, and has been leasing the site to the current owners.

The foreclosure purchase, said Sandy, includes the remaining 5.3 acres, the 80,000-square-foot main hotel building with 125 guest rooms and a second 25,000-square-foot building with 64 guest rooms.

He said High would not know the final purchase price until closing.

The purchase, Sandy said, is part of High's effort to expand its 600-acre Greenfield Corporate Center, already home to more than 250 businesses.

Once owned by Kronos Hotels LLC, of Georgia, the hotel was taken from the now-defunct company when Kronos defaulted on its debt payments.

Saddled with local and federal liens, and facing lawsuits from unpaid vendors, the hotel also had its restaurant closed by the state Department of Agriculture in October, 2008 for more than 60 code infractions.

The Liquor Control Board raided the former Holiday Inn after learning alcohol was being sold without a license.

As debts and bad news piled up, Holiday Inn pulled its flag from the Greenfield Road hotel in October 2008. The hotel operated as The Inn at Lancaster prior to joining the Ramada chain last July.

A Ramada Inn sign was erected at the property's Greenfield Road entrance last week, replacing vinyl banners that had been strung from the old Holiday Inn marquee.

Prism Hotels and Resorts, of Dallas, Texas, currently manages hotel operations, and Chris Barrett, president of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the new owners had been working to improve the facility.

The new managers applied for readmission to the bureau, and Barrett said after a tour of the facility, that application was accepted.

Barrett said High's acquisition of the property "is great news. Based upon the issues we've had with the previous owners, High would be an excellent operator. No matter what they choose to do, they do it right."

As far as individuals who have already booked rooms or meeting space, Cooley said, "We will work with those who currently operate the hotel to address the needs of any customers to which they made commitments."

Sandy said they would look for available space at the adjacent High-owned Hampton Inn and Courtyard by Marriott facilities, or other hotels in the area, to handle those commitments.

This is the first of two local hotels once owned by Kronos to undergo a foreclosure sale.

On Wednesday, the York Dispatch reported that U.S. Marshals Service plans to sell the Ramada Inn & Resort Center in Manchester Township on New Year's Eve.

That sale is one of several efforts to recover $62 million in outstanding debt owed by Kronos.

A former Kronos-owned Crowne Plaza in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is set for a sheriff's sale Dec. 22.