By Eric Curl
April 10, 2024 – The Historic District Board of Review approved the restoration of a historic building at 3 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, along with the demolition of a former machine fabrication shop at 512 Indian St. to make way for a proposed hotel along the northwest edge of the Downtown Historic District.
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The proposed 90-95 room hotel “will serve as the gateway to the western end of River Street and Indian Street, connecting the area to the downtown core and marking the area’s transition from an industrial to a dynamic mixed-use urban landscape,” according to architect J. Elder Studio’s project description.
“The prevailing expression which gives the design its strong identity, its sawtooth roof form and its associated projections and recesses in plan, nods to Savannah and the immediate site’s history while looking towards the future,” the project description states. “It mirrors both the form of roofs in industrial buildings in Savannah associated with the city’s role in the rail industry as well as the rhythmic pattern of passing ships heading to port.”
Board member Michael Higgins, along with other members, said the architect should be commended.
“This is a very inspired design that is sympathetic to the context,” Higgins said.
The board’s approval on Wednesday was for the building demolition and 5-story hotel’s height and mass. The new building’s design details will still have to be approved for the project to move forward
The board’s vote came after a representative from the Historic Savannah Foundation raised concerns about the loss of the industrial building, along with the proposed height of the addition to the adjacent historic structure at 3 MLK. Ellie Isaacs, HSF’s director of Preservation & Historic Properties, said that while the addition’s height and scale should be reduced, the foundation supports the potential for well designed modern architecture over “false historicism.“
“We don’t want the architect to shy away from the more modern approach,” Isaacs said.
As described in the project description, the hotel will feature a proposed coffee bistro on Indian Street and a full-service restaurant and hotel lobby above River Street. Hotel guestrooms will occupy non-street-level floors, with a 2-story addition offering an open-air rooftop amenity area.
Established in 1922, the Dixie Machine Company purchased the Indian Street property in 1938 and remained there through 2023, according to an MPC staff report. Various advertisements state that the company manufactured and distributed industrial and marine equipment. After staff reported that the largely metal building is devoid of any notable or distinctive architectural details and nothing ties the building to a historical event or person, the board is requiring that, rather than traditional demolition, the Dixie Machine building be deconstructed and the materials be salvaged for reuse.
“While the history of the site that is presently occupied by the building identified as 512 Indian Street is reflective of the evolution and growth of industrial uses in the City of Savannah, there are no significant events related to the site that have been found to have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history,” the MPC staff report states. “In addition, although numerous buildings have been added to the Historic Building Map, including in this block, 512 Indian Street was not.”
The building at 3 MLK dates back to at least 1939 and was originally built for the South Atlantic Paper Company before it was occupied by a wholesale laundry company, according to an MPC staff report. The proposed hotel comes after the building’s owner, Bob Turner, did not move forward with previous plans to renovate the structure for retail use on the first floor and high-end luxury apartments on the upper floor with a rooftop garden.
During an interview in February, Elder attributed the high cost of rehabilitating the building as the part of the challenge in moving other projects forward.
“That’s where having to do the addition,” he said. “Having a larger hotel and using adjoining property helps offset that cost.”
About Dixie Machine Co.
The Dixie Machine Company was established in 1922 by J. Usher and HR Delegal, who purchased the property in 1938 from John F. Canty, a wheelwright, blacksmith, and city alderman, according to an MPC staff report. A 1950 Appraisal Report also lists the ‘apparent age’ of the structure as 15 years old, which would place the construction date in 1935, while a real estate ledger book shows improvements taking place on the property in 1938, 1939, and 1940 under Usher and Delegal. The building was expanded by 1973, according to historical Sanborn Maps. Dixie Machine Co. remained in the building through 2023 based on city directories and various company advertisements described the business as “Manufacturers – Distributors of Industrial and Marine Equipment.” Multiple structures stood on the site prior to the existing building. The last building shown on the lot based on Sanborns was a two-story blacksmith shop with woodworking on the first floor and printing on the second floor. Staff reporting finding no information that ties the building to a historical event or person, while also noting that the building was not added to contributing resources map during previous reviews and updates in 2000 and 2010. The largely metal with some brick building is devoid of any notable or distinctive architectural characteristics and reflects a more utilitarian design as would be expected for a building intended for industrial uses, according to the MPC staff report.
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