New downtown hotel complex to include lofts, office and restaurants (Columbus: apartments, rent)

[Fountain-of-youth]

In addition to a new 106-room downtown Columbus hotel that became public last week, developers are planning loft apartments, office and restaurant space in the current Raymond Rowe furniture location.

Those details surfaced Monday afternoon when the owners of RAM Hotels presented their plans that have been in the works for months to the Uptown Facade Board.

RAM Hotels President Rinkesh Patel told the panel, which has approval authority over building exteriors in downtown Columbus, that the plan is to mix demolition and new construction for what they say will be a “lifestyle complex.”

No action was taken by the board on Monday, and Patel made it clear that he was in front of the city board looking for direction before the project moves forward.

“We didn’t come here expecting final approval,” Patel said.

Justin Krieg, an ex-officio board member, termed the presentation a conceptual project review.

RAM Hotels is in the process of acquiring the property from the Rowe family, which operates a furniture store in the mid-block buildings. That deal is expected to close by the end of the year, Patel said. The Rowes have declined comment.

The current plans are:

▪ Tear down the 1235 Broadway building that currently houses the furniture store and replace it with a 106-room hotel. The new construction will shift slightly to the south into a parking lot adjacent to the furniture store. That building was constructed in 1948.

▪ Renovate the building north of 1235 that currently houses the Golf Gallery. There will be a restaurant on the first floor and eight to 10 loft apartments on the second and third floors.

▪ Put an alley between the hotel and loft buildings, which are now connected.

▪ Renovate the warehouse closer to Front Avenue into office space. They plan to move RAM Hotels corporate headquarters into that building.

One of the issues that Patel wanted addressed was the height of the new construction. The preliminary designs that Patel presented showed a four-story hotel. Board Chairman Doug Jefcoat said he saw no issues with a potential five-story structure.

“That is the kind of direction we were looking for,” Patel said.

Last week when Patel outlined the project for the Ledger-Enquirer he said there was not a time frame for work to start or be completed. On Monday, he provided a rough time line.

▪ Have a plan that can gain Uptown Facade Board approval by the end of the year.

▪ Have the due diligence done in nine months.

▪ Begin construction next summer.

▪ Open the hotel by the end of 2018.

Patel, and his brother, RAM Executive Vice President Mitesh Patel, walked away from the meeting pleased with the results. They showed the initial designs they were proposing and some AC Hotel designs from other cities.

“I thought they would lean toward a more traditional look, but it seems like they are more progressive minded,” Rinkesh Patel said.

There are about 70 AC Hotels worldwide and another 100 under construction in the United States, including one at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, and others in Asheville, N.C., and Savannah. AC Hotels are an high-end Marriott brand. The rooms in Columbus will likely rent for between $175 and $200 per night, significantly more than other Columbus area hotels.

It is the second hotel planned for the 1200 block. The Pezold companies are planning a Hampton Inn at the corner of 12th and Broadway.

Read more here: Proposed downtown Columbus Broadway 1200 block hotel site to include more than just an upper end Marriott property. | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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[Sonofagun112]

I hear that's not all that's planned for downtown. Expect more announcements.

[JayHey]

Originally Posted by Sonofagun112

Expect more announcements.

That's as safe a bet as betting that the sun will rise in the east.

Project is very exciting, can't wait to see the facade plans later this year. Glad to see that other ACM projects use a historic brick look that will go great here.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by JayHey

That's as safe a bet as betting that the sun will rise in the east.

Project is very exciting, can't wait to see the facade plans later this year. Glad to see that other ACM projects use a historic brick look that will go great here.

Hopefully they get away from brick and do something more modern with unique architecture. Time to break away from brick construction. And can we please get something over 5 stories.

[Fountain-of-youth]

Originally Posted by Sonofagun112

I hear that's not all that's planned for downtown. Expect more announcements.

One of those announcements includes building 200 apartments.

[JayHey]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

Hopefully they get away from brick and do something more modern with unique architecture. Time to break away from brick construction. And can we please get something over 5 stories.

I completely disagree, anything west of 2nd Avenue needs to be built with history and aesthetics in mind. As the core Uptown area grows and flourishes, the Veterans Parkway corridor is a perfect place to build a more modern mid-rise.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by JayHey

I completely disagree, anything west of 2nd Avenue needs to be built with history and aesthetics in mind. As the core Uptown area grows and flourishes, the Veterans Parkway corridor is a perfect place to build a more modern mid-rise.

You can still incorporate modern architecture down there. Columbus needs to break away from the old way of thinking when it comes to construction. We need more TSYS and Carmike buildings. Time to take a step up.

[amyers3]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

You can still incorporate modern architecture down there. Columbus needs to break away from the old way of thinking when it comes to construction. We need more TSYS and Carmike buildings. Time to take a step up.

From the video on the article, it sounds like they want to do a mix of both - to compliment downtown/uptown but also be the modern brand that AC is. I would be surprised if all parts of this development come to light -- this is much more $$$$ development than RAM normally does. They're normally hanging out in the $5-8m range for Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn, etc. This is looking more to be $15-20 million (in my eyes), but I don't have actual numbers.

In comparison, the Marriott is worth about $20-22m, and it's just a hotel + they're taring down and starting over. Interested to see how this goes!

[Fountain-of-youth]

AC Marriott Uptown Columbus, GA (Fall 2018) – Ram Hotels

[Nick&I102]

Hopefully the company will release the rendering soon. I'm curious to know what the project will look like.