May 29--Hotel executive Kevin Molloy, who survived two buyouts of the former Kahler Corp. Inns in Rochester, is checking out of his office at the Kahler Grand Hotel. 

Molloy confirmed late last week that he has resigned his position as northcentral region vice president for operations for current owner Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., effective Thursday. 

Molloy's departure will end his 26 years with the 700-room Kahler Grand and three other Rochester properties. 

Sunstone has named Frank Heavlin, most recently chief operating officer for Davidson Hotel Co. of Memphis, Tenn., to succeed Molloy as regional vice president. Heavlin has been working in Rochester for the past two weeks, Heavlin said. 

A native of Ireland, Molloy came to Kahler via a short Irish-American exchange in 1973. He returned in 1976 to manage the rooms division at the Kahler Hotel and, in the fall of 1985, was promoted to senior vice president of operations. 

His responsibilities with homegrown Kahler Corp. at one time extended to lodging operations for most of the chain's 23 hotels and resorts, which were concentrated largely in the Rochester market and the Rocky Mountain states. 

Molloy stayed on to manage the core Rochester properties after a New York investment firm acquired Kahler Realty Corp. in summer 1996 and the company's other senior executives subsequently went out the door. Sunstone Hotel Investors of San Clemente, Calif., purchased the Kahler hotel group late in 1997. 

Molloy is well-known in the hospitality industry, having led its local business association in the past. He also has served as a board member for the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce and, as recently as last year, was president of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Molloy's region with Sunstone largely was the four Rochester properties -- the Kahler Grand Hotel, Marriott Hotel Rochester, Holiday Inn City Centre and the Economy Inn & Executive Suites by Kahler, all located downtown. 

Molloy shepherded more than 12 million dollars worth of remodelings at the Rochester properties in recent years, but he will leave before construction begins on a fifth hotel announced by Sunstone last fall. 

The company plans a 132-room Marriott Residence Inn on the block just west of the current Economy Inn & Executive Suites. 

"I think a big part of my job (immediately) will be opening the new hotel," Heavlin said. 

From 1993 until last year, he was chief operating officer for Davidson and its 30 properties, mostly located east of the Mississippi River. Previously, Heavlin spent four years with Walt Disney Co. in executive jobs, including opening hotels in Florida and California. 

Molloy said his resignation involved his options and ambitions -- "where one is in life." At the same time, "I've had 26 wonderful years with the Rochester properties," he said. 

Molloy, a naturalized citizen since 1982, said he and his family want to stay in Rochester. 

"It's our home," he said. "My wife and I haven't lived anywhere else in the United States." 

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