City moves to revoke ‘mistakenly issued’ inn approvals for Thomas Square apartment development

Oct. 24, 2026 – The city of Savannah is preparing to revoke a local developer’s business approvals for three “inns” in the Thomas Square neighborhood, after residents decried the new development, a recently completed building complex that was originally proposed to be residential apartments.

Residents said The Jardin was effectively operating as a hotel serving visitors rather than as the apartments originally proposed for the two buildings at Montgomery and 43rd streets.

The controversy comes less than a year after the neighborhood successfully petitioned in December 2025 to become part of an overlay district that prohibits hotels — lodging establishments with more than 15 rooms.

Residents opposed expanding hotel use in Thomas Square because of concerns about housing, small businesses, traffic and noise, neighborhood association President Linda VanApeldoorn said Friday during an interview with Savannah Agenda.

“Parking, parking, parking is a huge issue here,” VanApeldoorn said.

The Jardin began advertising as an “apartment-style Inn” offering “40 Suites & Lofts” on its website after the developer had obtained city approvals in June to operate the establishment as three separate inns – each at or below the 15-room limit.

“In essence, the TSNA Board feels this may be a bait-and-switch tactic by the building owners to bypass the (hotel development overlay) extension without going through the proper channels,” the Thomas Square Neighborhood Association said in a statement VanApeldoorn read at their September 21 meeting.

After the association raised their concerns, the City Manager Jay Melder said in a Sept. 22 email to Savannah Alderman Detric Leggett that staff was reviewing whether the three inns complied with the “spirit and letter” of the ordinance or were actually designed to operate as one hotel-like facility.

On Oct. 21, the city sent the developer’s representatives, Loan “Ele” Tran and applicant Ronnie Hall, a notice of its intent to revoke approvals the three inns after finding they had been “mistakenly issued” and that the lodging use violates city law. The notice marks a reversal from the city’s position earlier this year, when staff approved three inns totaling 39 rooms at 2601 Montgomery St., 411 W. 42nd St. and 420 W. 43rd St.

The city now says The Jardin is one development containing two buildings, not three separate lodging establishments, and that both buildings exceed the 15-room limit for an inn.

The city also found that 42nd and 43rd streets do not meet the zoning requirement that an inn in the zoning district front a collector or arterial street. Although the portion identified as 411 W. 42nd St. technically fronts Montgomery Street because of the building’s L-shaped configuration, the city says it is part of a 24-unit building, putting it over the maximum number of rooms allowed for an inn.

In addition, the individual inns must each be owner-occupied or provide 24-hour onsite staffing.

VanApeldoorn said Friday that the neighborhood never received an explanation from the developer for why the apartment complex was converted to lodging use.

The experience will make the neighborhood association more closely scrutinize other apartment developments, she said, particularly because TSNA had supported requested design exceptions for The Jardin when it was presented as a mixed-use apartment project.

“It makes you pay more attention, maybe,” she said. “It makes you a little more skeptical.”

The neighborhood association’s original support was expressly tied to the project’s residential and mixed-use nature. In its support letter, the board said it voted 7-0, with two abstentions, in favor of what it described as a “mixed-use apartment and commercial development.” The board said that “above all, the development promises to create new housing for downtown residents” and asked that the exceptions be conditioned on the project maintaining its mixed-use character.

The two buildings — proposed as a 3-story 41-unit apartment complex at the time — were approved by the Historic Preservation Commission at the Feb. 22 meeting.

VanApeldoorn said she also doubts the developer will successfully challenge the city’s proposed revocation.

“It doesn’t sound likely they could be successful,” she said, citing building and change-of-use issues that she said had been identified by architects who reviewed the project. “They’d have to do a lot of physical work to convert it into what they say they are right now, to convert it into an inn.”

Savannah Agenda contacted Loan “Ele” Tran, of The Rhino Collective, on Friday seeking comment on the city’s notice of intent to revoke the inn approvals. She declined to comment.

The proposed Montgomery Street apartment project was among the highest assessed projects in 2024 following the city’s implementation of a development impact fee, with a $83,110 fee, as previously reported. At the time, the Rhino Collective issued a statement to Savannah Agenda that included a call for the city to reevaluate the fees.

“As developers, we are committed to fostering a more affordable and accessible housing landscape,” a portion of the statement said. “However, the current implementation of impact fees presents significant challenges to this mission.”

The approvals have not yet been formally revoked. The city has scheduled a show-cause hearing for Nov. 4, when The Rhino Collective may present evidence and argue why the approvals should remain in place.

The city has also ordered the inn use corrected, with an extension through Dec. 1. If the violations remain after that date, the city says it may pursue additional zoning enforcement remedies.

As of this article’s publishing on Oct. 24, the Jardin continues to be advertised online as an inn.

After years of opening Asian-fusion restaurants throughout Savannah, Tran and her partners began expanding into residential and lodging development. The Jardin was among the group’s early residential projects. The group also renovated the three-story historic building at 116 Whitaker St., where the Sunday Sunday restaurant now operates on the ground floor and an 11-room inn marketed as the Keystone Hotel occupies the upper floors. In addition, the development group is planning the Hummingbird Hotel, an 80-plus-room hotel in a new six-story mid-rise structure at 127 W. Oglethorpe Ave., along with multiple apartment complexes in Savannah and other cities, according to The Rhino Collective’s website.

Tran’s development group also acquired the former East Side Theater in February 2024 with plans to renovate the building at 718 E. Broad St. and construct an apartment complex behind it, as previously reported. As of this week, however, the theater remained vacant and boarded up, with no visible construction underway.

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