By Eric Curl
Nov. 15, 2024 – On Wednesday, the Historic District Board of Review approved a hotel developer’s petition to demolish the two non-contributing buildings at 520 West Hull St.
The petitioner’s representative said during the meeting that the developer is currently planning to build a “boutique hotel” on the site.
While the main building at 520 West Hull St. was built around 1950, it is considered a non-contributing resource within the historic district. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show that in 1916 there was a livery stable on the site where the building now stands, but staff reported that no important historical information was uncovered regarding the buildings that had at one time operated as an auto repair shop, DeVan Auto Service. A smaller building on the parcel built in the 1970s was also found to be non-contributing.
A Charleston-based hotel and restaurant developer acquired the downtown property late last year, according to public records.
Records show that a subsidiary of Charleston-based developer Michael Bennett, Oglethorpe Associates IV LLC, acquired the site for $625,000 in November 2023.
Although the page is no longer available, Bennett’s Charleston company website at the time said that past projects included seven restaurants, a music hall, a golf course, and more than 20 hotels ranging in locations from Charleston to Savannah to Montana. The newly acquired building is next to an Embassy Suites hotel Bennett developed and is across the street from the SCAD Museum of Art.
Savannah Agenda emailed the development’s agent on Friday morning and this article will be updated if a response is received.
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