Rocky Point Chowder House owners looking to acquire West Valley Inn

By John Howell
Posted 8/17/16

If the owners of the Rocky Point Chowder House at the Post Road Ann & Hope parking lot have their way, West Valley Inn will remain open and honor its banquet contracts.

“We’re trying to put …

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Rocky Point Chowder House owners looking to acquire West Valley Inn

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If the owners of the Rocky Point Chowder House at the Post Road Ann & Hope parking lot have their way, West Valley Inn will remain open and honor its banquet contracts.

“We’re trying to put some sort of agreement together,” David Cascioli said Monday.

Cascioli said his group is seeking to keep West Valley operations going, retaining full-time and on-call staff that collectively number 50 to 60, while completing their due diligence on acquisition of the property and business owned by the Correira family.

While West Valley has not issued a formal statement about its plans, last Wednesday people and organizations that had contracted for banquets were informed that the company would close its doors at the end of the month.

As of Monday, the property and business remained for sale at $1.5 million.

“We don’t have an offer at this point,” Jeff Butler of Butler Real Estate said. He said there have been several inquiries since the story broke that the business would close at the end of the month. He said some people, like Cascioli, are interested in maintaining operations, while others are primarily interested in the 12-acre property and two buildings.

Butler was fearful the story would cool interest in the property, whereas it has had the opposite affect.

“It’s getting people off the dime and actually [thinking] of making an offer,” he said.

Cascioli is no stranger to the community. He was a manager at Rocky Point for years, fading from the local scene after the park closed. He resurfaced several years ago to advocate plans for a water park. He promoted the plan for state property.

In 2014 he teamed up with Chang Ping Hou to buy the Rocky Point Clam Shack. He said that group has been expanded to now include Daniel Chow as an owner.

“I know we would have to take immediate action. The rush now is to prevent it [West Valley] from closing,” he said.

In addition to its banquet business, West Valley also operates a catering business, soup and sauce takeout and family-style restaurant from the West Warwick location.

Longer range, Cascioli said West Valley needs to undergo changes to bring back business and turn it into a moneymaking operation.

“We think we can stem that loss,” he said. “It could be a change in the dynamic to attract the market by offering services not available before.”

He feels there is still a market for reasonably priced banquet facilities.

“There’s nothing that’s replaced having a wedding,” he said. “We would like to take over and breathe new life into it.”

Should Cascioli and his group end up with West Valley, he said the plan is to maintain operations. He is not looking at the property as a site for a water park. Yet, he said West Valley could be a “stepping stone” to a water park. He explained multiple successful operations enhance the feasibility of the company developing a water park.

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