Another hotel property planned for Augusta's downtown
New extended-stay lodging is in the works for the historic Johnson Building at the corner of Eighth and Broad Street downtown.
The venture includes 14 hotel suites occupying 13,000 square feet on the building’s second floor, according to Augusta Planning and Development documents.
Built in the early 1920s, the Johnson Building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The second floor includes original features such as marble stairs and walls, according to a planning document.
The two-story building at 758 Broad St. runs along Eighth Street from Broad to Ellis Street. The bottom floor houses several retail businesses including Groucho’s Deli, which opened in 2018.
The Johnson Building was slated in 2017 to house part of a new downtown Augusta Innovation Zone headquartered in the Woolworth Building, but that plan hasn’t materialized.
More:Investor group details downtown incubator plans
Owner Dallas Hooks declined to comment on the development, which the Augusta Commission approved for a rezoning request Tuesday. There was no discussion.
According to planning documents, the extended-stay suites can’t be occupied for more than 30 consecutive days.
Lodging options continue to expand
The development would be a 14-unit addition to the lodging stock in the Central Business District of downtown Augusta. The last hotel to open – the sixth in central downtown – was the five-story Hyatt House, which has approximately 100 rooms. The Hyatt opened in the 1200 block of Broad in 2019.
More:Downtown developer shelves Courtyard Marriott project
Other downtown hotels include:
- Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center has 372 rooms spread between two riverfront facilities at 2 10th St.
- The Ramada by Wyndam has approximately 200 rooms at 640 Broad St.
- The Holiday Inn Express has 170 rooms at 444 Broad St.
- The America's Best Value Inn at 441 Broad St. has 60 rooms.
- Richmond on Greene at 725 Greene St. advertises 16 rooms for guests using the venue for events such as weddings.
More:Downtown Augusta hotel still on drawing board
Earlier this year, Naman Hotels announced plans to construct a hotel, likely an Embassy Suites, at the former Sky City building at 1157 Broad St, while an earlier project to build a 132-room Courtyard by Marriott was shelved in 2019. A city-financed mixed-used development anchored by an old train depot, said to potentially include a hotel, fell apart in early 2020.
More:Depot project likely dead as city rejects developer's requests
While hotels and downtown development took a hit from the pandemic – Downtown Development Authority Director Margaret Woodard stated three restaurants and three businesses closed their doors last year, while hotels have suffered nationwide – the new hotel follows development spurred by the 2018 arrival of the Georgia Cyber Center downtown.
The new TaxSlayer headquarters opened that year and the new Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau headquarters, known as “Augusta & Co.” opened in 2019.
More:Margaret Woodard: Downtown Augusta’s journey of resiliency in 2020
In terms of permanent housing, Woodard has spoken of dozens of new loft apartments created above downtown businesses in recent years. A dozen apartments opened earlier this year in the former historic handkerchief factory on Ellis Street.