RAINELLE, WV (WOAY) – 22-year-old Rainelle entrepreneur Trey Yates buys abandoned motel ‘Rainelle Motor Lodge’ to convert into apartments. By providing decent living in the Rainelle area he hopes it will help boost the town’s weak economy which took a dramatic decline after the devastating 2016 flood.
Just like many other businesses and homes in Rainelle, the motel was severely damaged by the flooding that took place on June 23, 2016. The once busy motel has been abandoned ever since.
“It’s all about opportunity, I call West Virginia the opportunity state,” said owner Trey Yates.
Yates thought buying the motel and turning it into homes would be the perfect incentive for workers and future residences.
“I’m an economic guy so therefore when I say we need to bring jobs in, and then you look at where are these people going to live? So you can balance that by saying that we offer housing for employees so whenever that comes into play, having that you can say jobs needs to be here,” said Yates.
Building homes arent the only thing the young businessman is doing, he’s also providing jobs.
“All my businesses are being headquartered in Rainelle, and some will be producing in Rainelle like Greenier Dairy. We’ll have a butter and cheese plant on 8th street which is right across the road from where these apartments will be. So we can say you’ll have a place to live and your work will be within walking distance,” said Yates.
Yates says that he has a lot more planned for the town of Rainelle.
