By Eric Curl
March 10, 2023 – Local luxury hotel developer Richard Kessler has added another historic Savannah building to his list of acquisitions, following the development of Plant Riverside, the Bohemian and the Mansion on Forsyth Park. Kessler’s limited liability corporation, which shares the Florida address of his hotel development company, The Kessler Collection, recently purchased the downtown mansion at 26 East Gaston St. for $4.75 million on Feb. 27, according to the sales record.
Located a block away from the Armstrong Mansion that Kessler purchased for use as a private residence in 2017, it is unclear how the property will be used. According to his spokesperson, Allison Hersh, Kessler is focused on renovating the “iconic” residential property overlooking Forsyth Park and Drayton Street, but has not made any decisions about long-term plans for the property.
Originally built for Georgia banking magnate Mills B. Lane in 1908, the six-bedroom home is considered as an architectural masterpiece, featuring commanding Ionic columns, a stately brick facade, graceful Swan’s neck pediment and hand-crafted wrought iron fencing, as reported by Connect Savannah in 2021.
Kessler purchased the property from the founder of the Galvan Foundation, T. Eric Galloway, who acquired the mansion for $4 million using an LLC in 2021, according to the sales record. Savannah became the second location for the New York-based nonprofit after Galloway moved to Savannah and decided to support the city’s affordable housing initiatives, according to the foundation’s treasurer, Dan Kent, as reported in January. Kent said via text on Friday that the sale will have no impact on Galvan’s plans in Savannah.
The Galvan Foundation recently contributed $1 million to the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund and is planning to acquire 19 city owned properties for housing development in Cuyler-Brownville, following the city’s approval of the sales, as previously reported in January. The Mill’s B. Lane mansion’s address was also used for Galvan’s subsidiary, Savannah Local Initiatives, which purchased a historic building at 2205 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from the Historic Savannah Foundation last October with the intention of restoring the fire damaged structure.
Read about other local property developments in the latest Property Matter.
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