Why redevelop the President’s House site as a hotel?

Athens has a well-documented shortage of hotel rooms to support the Classic Center, university events, and local tourism. This project creates needed new lodging that will generate the revenue necessary to preserve and allow access to the historic President’s House and aligns with existing commercial uses on Prince Avenue. 

 

Will the President’s House be saved? Will it be open to the public?

Yes. Capstone Property Group will invest more than $2 million beyond the purchase price to handle deferred maintenance and restore the historic Greek Revival home to the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for historic preservation. Public access to the first floor will be provided through the restaurant, and interpretive elements will share the home’s history with visitors and the community. 

 

How tall will the hotel be? 
The hotel will be three stories tall and no taller than the President’s House itself. The design places social activity around an interior courtyard and steps the building away from nearby homes, ensuring the new structure is secondary to the historic home closest to Prince Avenue. 

 

How many rooms will there be? 
The current plan calls for approximately 116 guest rooms. This number was achieved by adjusting the mix of suites and standard rooms while keeping the overall footprint of the building the same. We expect our guests to support adjacent and walkable businesses along Prince Avenue.  

 

Will the project affect the protected bike lanes on Prince Avenue? 
No. As far as we know, the bike lanes on Prince Avenue are permanent and will remain untouched, and we are not advocating for that to change. The project is designed with a single curb cut on Prince Avenue, separated valet/drop-off areas, and on-site bike parking for employees and guests. We will also offer bikes for our guests to use as they travel the neighborhood.  

 

Will there be vehicle access from Boulevard or other neighborhood streets? 
No. All vehicle access will be limited to Prince Avenue only. There will be no connection to Boulevard or side streets. 

 

What about parking and traffic impacts? 

Most of our parking is planned to be underground, with 109 underground spaces, reducing surface parking and preserving green space. We will have nine surface spaces and are planning for an additional 22 spaces off site through an agreement with a neighboring property. Hotels do not generate as much traffic as more intensive commercial uses, as our guests will typically arrive and stay or walk to nearby businesses or downtown.  We have conducted a traffic study and it shows minimal impact on local streets.  ​

What happens to the existing gardens and trees? 
The mature landscape in front of the President’s House will be preserved, limiting visible impacts of the new buildings from Prince Avenue. Tree protection and new evergreen buffers are part of the site plan. If we are able to do underground parking as planned, we will preserve the vast majority of the gardens and greenspace at the back of the 5-acre site as well.  

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Why not use the site for residential housing or another institutional or commercial use? 
Alternative uses would likely require more surface parking, which would remove much of the green space and could reach the full intensity allowed under zoning (up to 75% floor-area ratio). The size of the hotel allows for underground parking, funds the restoration of the President’s House and will preserve more of the greenspace. 

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How will the project impact neighborhood character? 
The design respects the scale of the President’s House, places activity toward Prince Avenue and the courtyard, and buffers the rear of the site with setbacks and landscaping. Operational conditions (quiet hours, no outdoor amplified music after set times) will protect neighborhood quality of life and keep the hotel within the commercial envelope along Prince Avenue. 

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What are the economic benefits of the project? 
The project returns tax-exempt property to the Athens-Clarke County tax rolls and creates more than 50 hospitality jobs. As currently proposed, it is estimated to contribute $500,000 of property taxes per year with an additional $940,000 in hotel/motel tax and over $825,000 in sales taxes to support local services. 

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When will the public be able to visit the President’s House? 
Once restored, the first floor will be open to the public through the hotel restaurant, with interpretive displays and programming to share its history. The house has rarely been accessible to the public in its previous iterations, and we think that it is vital that this precious historic resource be shared with the community.  

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How will you work with the surrounding neighborhood? 

We have engaged with neighborhood groups and other non-profits in Athens since we began planning this process and will continue to do so.  We are grateful for what has mostly been thoughtful and constructive feedback.  

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How do you respond to people who say the hotel is too big for the neighborhood? 

The structure itself will be no larger than several nearby buildings, including the Clarke County School District offices. At 5 acres, the property is larger than most sites in the neighborhood but by moving parking underground, the hotel will be contained within the commercial zone. By having a larger number of rooms, we are able to afford underground parking, which allows us to preserve more than half of the greenspace on the site and have a revenue stream that allows us to substantially renovate the President’s House to the Secretary of the Interior’s standards, open it to the public, and maintain it in the future. It is unlikely that other potential users on site will have the resources or desire to open the property to the public.  

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Why utilize a PD (planned development) process versus a regular rezone? 

The PD process creates certainty for neighbors and is designed to deal with unusual zoning situations. In this case, we have a 5-acre parcel that reaches into a residential neighborhood and is surrounded by smaller lots.  If this lot was proscriptively rezoned as one or multiple C-N or C-O lots, 75% lot coverage would be allowed with a 65-foot-tall building allowed by right. An approved PD site plan is binding, offering assurances for he neighborhood about what is to come on the site, regardless of ownership.