By Eric Curl
Oct. 1, 2023 –Work related to providing the electricity needs of a new downtown hotel recently damaged the adjacent 3-story historic building, shutting down a downtown bar, Abe’s on Lincoln, that operates on the ground level.
The installation of an in-ground electrical vault by Georgia Power at the northeast corner of the mid-19th-century building at 226 E. Bryan St. resulted in some “significant settling and cracking” in the street level masonry wall, according to correspondence submitted Sept. 22 with building permit documents.
A Georgia Power spokesperson said Tuesday they were unaware of any damage caused by the company, but they would look into the incident. The spokesperson did not provide comment in time for publication.
The correspondence from JDR Construction & Design’s John Roberts said his company was issued an “emergency repair” permit for the foundation work after contacting the city about the incident.
Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment made Tuesday.
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Abe’s owner, Brian Huskey, said on Tuesday that his bar had to shut down due to the incident and the repairs were supposed to take about two weeks to complete. Huskey said he is now trying to get some compensation from the hotel’s developer, who now serves as his landlord, for the closure to pay his six employees who were put out of work.
“That’s where I’m starting at least,” he said.
Noble Investment Group, which purchased the property in April 2022, as part of the hotel development did not immediately respond to a request for comment made Wednesday. The Atlanta-based developer is constructing a 7-story, 154-room Tempo brand Hilton at the adjacent site after demolishing a 4-story, non-historic office building there, as previously reported.
Constructed in 1852-1853, the building that houses Abe’s is also used as a short-term vacation rental on the top floors. Plans had initially been to relocate the structure, as well as another historic property to its immediate north, but the structure was left in place instead and incorporated into the hotel plan. The two-story, 19th-century structure to the north was deconstructed by Repurpose Savannah last year after it was found to be structurally unsound by a Chatham County Recorder’s Court judge.
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