Cotton Exchange sold with museum in mind

_{Featured photos courtesy of Erin Clarkson/Savannah First Timer}

Oct. 6, 2026 – The Cotton Exchange building on Bay Street recently sold for $8.2 million as interior demolition plans make their way through the review process.

Cotton Exchange LLC purchased the property on Sept. 29 for $1.8 million less than the price it was advertised for when the Solomon’s Lodge folks listed the 1886 building for sale in November 2025.

Plans to rehabilitate the building’s River Street facade were approved by the Historic District Board of Review in June, when architect J. Elder Studio indicated at the time the building would be repurposed as a museum, as reported by the Savannah Morning News.

The recently submitted plans also mention that a museum is the intention. The project has since moved into interior demolition, with the city issuing a $75,000 permit on Sept. 24 for removal of nonstructural walls, ceilings, flooring, plumbing, electrical components and HVAC systems. The demolition permit states that a separate permit and plan review will be required for the future buildout.

_{Photo courtesy of Erin Clarkson/Savannah First Timer}

Constructed in 1886, the brick structure was built when Savannah was the nation’s top cotton distributor, illustrated by the facade’s cotton motifs, according to the listing.

The patent of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1794 allowed cotton plantations to spread further from the coast to grow short staple cotton, according to the Georgia Historical Society. The lucrative cash crop also increased the heavy dependence on enslaveed labor by cotton-producing states and directly tied those states to the slave economy.

The Cotton Exchange later housed the Solomon’s Lodge and served as a repository of Masonic artifacts and papers.

The Exchange is believed to be one of the few structures in the world erected over an existing public street, according to the historical marker.

People often say the Cotton Exchange is “built on air” because the building sits over the Drayton Street Ramp, and you can actually walk or drive beneath it to access River Street, as reported by Erin Clarkson on her Savannah First Timer website.

The project has since moved into interior demolition, with the city issuing a $75,000 permit on Sept. 24 for removal of nonstructural walls, ceilings, flooring, plumbing, electrical components and HVAC systems

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