<p>Owners and close family friends Don West, left, and Marshall Doyle, right, have taken over the Astoria Crest Motel. Wests' wife Wendy, second to left, manages the hotel, and Doyle's daughter Samantha, center, is the operations supervisor. Doyle's wife Patty is Wendy's niece, making the owners step-uncle and -nephew.</p>

The Crest Motel, owned by suspended chiropractor Adam Lopez, was headed toward foreclosure sale on the steps of the Clatsop County Courthouse in late June if he couldnt come up with more than $1 million in back taxes.

But a Portland businessman and a local hotel manager stepped in, buying the property and rebranding it the Astoria Crest Motel.

Don West has been the manager of the Cannery Pier Hotel for the last nine years. Marshall Doyle owns an equipment calibration company in Portland. The two, part of a closely connected couple of families, hope to revamp the presentation and reputation of the roadside motel with a $1 million view.

The motel, largely hidden from passersby on U.S. Highway 30, includes 40 rooms, most of which command sweeping panoramas west over Washington, the Columbia River, Astoria Bridge and waterfront. The Corps of Discovery camped at the spot from Nov. 27 to Dec. 6, 1805 while choosing a place to winter over, attested to by one of the only government-issue information boards on private property, on the back lawn of the hotel.

Were selling that view, said West, whos been in the lodging industry for 38 years and helped start operations around the country. Were selling the historic site. Were selling Astoria as a whole.

He and Doyle had been looking for three years at campgrounds, RV parks, motels and hotels, most recently the Edge Cliff in Lincoln City. The partners had just given up on negotiations for the Edge Cliff when they heard from a local broker that the Crest had just become available.

What was really important to all of us is that we had an opportunity to be on the water or near the water, said Doyle, whos dream it had long been to own his own RV park. Doyle, whos a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and used to handle maintenance at the RiverPlace condominiums next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, owns Cal-Cert, a company that calibrates construction and testing equipment around the world, from the aerospace and wood products industries to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alert, the new Panama Canal expansion project and the Hanford nuclear power plant.

The two owners are planning some minor renovations, including new paint in many of the rooms, flat screen televisions and electronic locks. Theyre looking to expand the lobby into a better meeting area for guests and surround it with glass to better show off the view theyre selling.

We didnt want to buy a roadside motel, said Doyle. We wanted to buy a destination-based hotel.

Its unfortunate that since 1952, its been run as a roadside motel.

Family operation

While the owners expect to complete the remodels by December, they dont expect to be running the business day to day. Wests wife Wendy, who is Doyles aunt-in-law, manages the motel, while Doyles daughter, Samantha, serves as operations supervisor.

Ive got a big learning curve, but I managed 40 women in my last job, said Wendy, who ran school meal programs in Illinois.

Samantha, who was living in Australia when her father and West closed the deal, previously managed the 256-room Courtyard Marriott in Portland.

The main reason I came home is my whole family was working on this project, and I wanted to be a part of it, she said.

The Crest Motel was scheduled for foreclosure sale late last month to cover back taxes and other debt, but it had no buyers and the foreclosure was moved to late October. The Lopez family owned the motel for eight years. They really cared about what they were doing, West said. He added that while his and Doyles offer wasnt the highest of three, the Lopez family felt they were the best option to continue running the motel.

Adam Lopez, had his chiropractic license suspended by the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners in September. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of harassment Wednesday in Clatsop County Circuit Court after eight former female patients reported inappropriate touching.