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| By Jennifer Branch |
River Street’s quiet east end is about to generate plenty of noise.
Plans
for Georgia Power’s four-plus acre site that includes the company’s
former region headquarters and nearly three acres of riverfront property
were unveiled Thursday during a specially called meeting of the
Savannah Historic District Board of Review.
The plans call for a
hotel, 500-space parking garage, four small retail buildings and a park
on the waterfront property currently devoted to a fenced-off parking lot
and greenspace formerly utilized by Georgia Power. Another new hotel is
to be built next to the existing Georgia Power office building on the
south side of River Street.
The project represents an $80 million
to $100 million investment, according to sources with knowledge of the
situation. Georgia Power spokeswoman Swann Seiler confirmed the property
is under contract for sale. She anticipates the deal closing by the end
of the year.
However, the project is contingent on the Chatham
County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission and Savannah City
Council agreeing to amend the Historic District Height Map. The change
would allow the would-be developer to build part of the riverfront hotel
as well as the parking garage to a height equal to the Georgia Power
office building across the street.
The hotel/garage property is
currently subject to the two-story restriction imposed on new
construction along the waterfront side of River Street east of Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd. The limit is meant to protect views of the river
from the bluff and the properties located on the south side of River
Street.
The hotel developer, Northpoint Hospitality Group, argues
part of the property sits east of the bluff’s edge and where River
Street joins General McIntosh Blvd. Building to a greater height
therefore won’t impede views, according to Northpoint, and the building
will still be shorter than the neighboring Savannah Marriott Riverfront.
The Marriott sits just outside the Historic District boundary.
The
Savannah Historic District Board of Review disagrees. The board
discussed the height map change Thursday. A five-story hotel on the
waterfront will block river views from the bluff, board members agreed.
The
board technically has no jurisdiction over the proposed amendment but
will forward a letter, crafted during Thursday’s meeting, to the
planning commission recommending it reject the change.
“The site
in question has a historic role as a viewing corridor between the
eastern edge of the bluff north of Bay Street and the river,” the letter
will read. “Views should be considered a vital component of the
historic district and a factor in the context of visual compatibility.
The (board) believes the existing map best preserves the visual
character of the riverfront between Bay Street and the Savannah River.”
The
MPC will take up the issue Tuesday and will issue a recommendation, for
or against, on the map amendment. Savannah City Council will then
decide whether to approve or deny the request.
If approved, the project would still be subject to normal review processes conducted by the MPC and the Historic Review Board.
Georgia Power’s Seiler is optimistic the project will move forward.
“It
is our intention to work with the purchaser in the coming months as
potential changes and modifications are vetted through the various
review board processes as needed,” Seiler wrote in an email.
The
proposed development would transform the east end of the waterfront and
essentially extend the River St. commercial corridor all the way to the
Marriott. The first of the four waterfront retail buildings would sit at
the eastern edge of Morrell Park near the foot of the East Broad Street
ramp.
The retail complex is broken into four buildings with
walkways between each to ensure pedestrian connectivity to and
sightlines of the river. The riverfront hotel sits east of the retail
buildings and stretches past the ferry boat landing.
The riverwalk frames the property.
Georgia
Power’s office building will remain as part of the complex, although
its use has yet to be determined. The developer plans to construct a
pedestrian walkway between the office building and its neighboring hotel
that would provide a new connection between Bay Street and River
Street.
Release of the project’s plans ends – at least temporarily
– nearly three years of speculation about the future of the property.
Georgia Power announced it would list the site for sale in September
2009.
Georgia Power and its predecessor, Savannah Electric Power
Co., occupied the property from the opening of the office building in
1961 until relocating to its new headquarters on Reynolds Square in
January 2011. The original building once featured a sales showroom and
three demonstration kitchens. Home economists staffed the kitchens and
offered cooking lessons as well as demonstrations in the latest
all-electric appliances.
The building long hosted community
meetings in an auditorium. And economic development officials once
utilized the fifth-floor veranda overlooking the river to welcome
visitors and dignitaries to Savannah.
ABOUT THE BUILDING
Located
at the east end of Bay Street, the 4.1-acre Georgia Power property
includes a 50,000-square-foot, five-story, brick building and nearly 3
acres of parking.
ABOUT NORTHPOINT HOSPITALITY
Northpoint
Hospitality is based in Atlanta and operates five Savannah-area hotels,
including the SpringHill Suites, the DoubleTree and the Hilton Garden
Inn in the Historic District.
SAVANNAH HISTORIC BOARD OF REVIEW RECOMMENDATION
The
historic review board will forward a letter recommending rejection of
the proposed text amendment to the Historic District Height Map. The
letter will read as follows.
“Historically, buildings along the
north side of River Street were no more than two stories (except for a
small portion, the now lost Neal Blun warehouse on the site of the
Hyatt). The site in question has a historic role as a viewing corridor
between the eastern edges of the bluff north of Bay Street and the
river. The historic Harbour Light was always visible from the river.
Further east, the 18th century Fort Wayne (along the northeast edge of
the Trustees Garden) maintained an open view to the river. Views should
be considered a vital component of the historic district and a factor in
the context of visual compatibility.
“The Savannah Board of
Historic Review recommends that the MPC reject any effort to alter,
amend or change the two stories above River Street and three stories
above Bay Street portions of the existing Historic District Height Map.
The BHR believes the existing map best preserves the visual character of
the riverfront between Bay Streets and the Savannah River.”
