By Eric Curl
Oct. 10, 2023 – A historic downtown high-rise office building overlooking Johnson Square will be rehabilitated for use as a Ritz-Carlton hotel, under a plan going before the Historic District Board of Review on Wednesday.
Miami-based Studio Mc+G Architecture’s petition includes the restoration of the historic 15-story building at 2 East Bryan St, which was built in 1911 as the Savannah Bank & Trust. The scope of work for the building down the street from City Hall includes the replacement of the front door to match the original, installation of new awnings along Bull and Bryan that are inspired by a historic photo and restoration of the stone facade.
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The plan also includes renovations of the adjacent non-historic office building at 14 East Bryan St. for residential and commercial use. The renovations include the addition of two floors of residences, and a limited thirteenth floor to allow for a small kitchen to service a pool deck, on the 10-story building, which was built in 1976.
The proposed project will open up the ground levels to the public, with a hotel lobby, restaurant and bar, according to the petition.
Find the HDBR’s full agenda and this week’s other meetings in the latest week ahead
The building’s owner is listed on the plans as TMGOC Ventures out of Charleston, SC and Boca Raton, Fla. The project will include a 100-key luxury full-service hotel and 20 branded residences, according to the company’s website (Editor’s Note: The spelling of the building owner’s name has been corrected from an earlier version of this article.)
The plan comes after workspace provider Expansive announced in March 2021 the debut of private offices, office suites, and coworking space at the location after renovating the building into “state-of-the-art workspace for one to 100-person companies,” according to a press release.
The plan is the latest in a series of acquisitions of downtown office buildings set to be converted into hotels. New York-based LEFT LANE is converting the Manger building, also located at Johnson Square, from office building into a hotel, the historic building’s original use, as previously reported. The Marriott also recently acquired the HunterMaclean building at 200 East Saint Julian St. In addition, the historic Realty Building at 24 Drayton St. was recently sold for $14.2 million, although plans have not been publicly announced by the buyer.
Savannah Agenda has reached out to Marriott regarding the latest plan, along with TMGOC Ventures, and this story will be updated if a response is received.
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