The famous “Savannah Skyscraper” to be a Ritz-Carlton. What’s the Hilton Head hook?
Savannah’s skyline is going to look a little different soon.
Steps away from Savannah’s City Hall, renovations are coming to the tallest building around Johnson Square, off Bull and Bryan Streets. The Savannah Historic District Board of Review approved the plans for a Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences in the Historic District Wednesday.
“Us Savannahians call this the Savannah skyscraper so it’s very iconic to our city,” vice chair Karen Guinn said at the meeting.
The plans will turn the now 15-floor business center, which was built by a New York designer in 1915, at 2 East Bryan Street into a proposed 100-room hotel. They will add two stories to the 10-story building next door at 14 East Bryan Street, which was constructed and designed by Hilton Head Island’s Thomas E. Stanley & Associates in 1975.
The project will open up the ground levels of both buildings, which are now private, to the public.
Architect Jennifer McConney said they considered demolishing the Hilton Head builder’s structure but instead chose to build about 20 living spaces on floors 5-12 with hotel rooms on floors 2-5 and a roof-top pool deck.
“Even though it was built in 1975 (...) it’s still a very important part of Savannah’s urban fabric,” she said at the meeting.
The board approved both plans with conditions on wood entrance doors, windows and height requirement awnings. However, one public commenter didn’t believe enough thought went into the plans.
“You often see the view from the river of this building (...) and now you’ve got a lot of additions on that facade,” Andrew Jones said. “This is going to fundamentally change the Savannah skyline and I think there should be perhaps some more focus on what’s going on in this area and what its appearance will be.”
Neither the architect nor HDBR mentioned a timeline for construction or opening.
