If all goes according to plan, within the next 18-24 months, visitors to Eatonton and Putnam County will have a new boutique hotel as their temporary address in town.
On the front steps of the Old Hotel Eatonton on South Madison Street, across the street from the courthouse, local leaders joined representatives of the Boston-based Drew Company to outline plans last Thursday afternoon to renovate and significantly expand the 102-year-old, three-story structure.
Undaunted by a light shower in the air, Eatonton Mayor John Reid declared it “a beautiful day,” before a crowd of about 40 local politicians and curious residents.
“No matter that it’s raining, it is great to be here today,” the mayor said. “I greet you and welcome you on behalf of the city of Eatonton. I’ve had a few champagne wishes in my life, and this is one of them. If anybody’s been around me, they know that I’ve worked hard to see one of these (modern hotels) come into our community and we are so proud, so thankful to the Drew Company for making it come to fruition.”
Reid also thanked his city council, who were all in attendance for the announcement and presentation.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am to have this come to fruition in the community. I no longer will have to call up my friends and invite them to the community but tell them we have to find you a room north or south of us because we can’t accommodate you here,” Reid continued. “After this takes place, we will be able to accommodate everyone.”
Founded by Chairman John Drew more than 35 years ago, the Drew Company has a stated mission of “boldly transforming properties, neighborhoods and the cities in which it operates with a diverse portfolio of visionary commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate projects.”
The company has developed and built many large projects in the past, with several landmark buildings in urban Boston, including its World Trade Centers, Seaport luxury residential towers, a 230,000-square-feet international exposition center and the Tweeter Center, a 19,000-seat, live-performance amphitheater.
Additionally, the Drew Company recently opened an Atlanta branch and is now constructing The Signia by Hilton Atlanta, a full-service, 976-room, four-star hotel adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
All of which begs the obvious question: why Eatonton?
“Well, you do your research, you look at, does a project even make sense? You start with due diligence. But again, from our standpoint, we see this as an opportunity to grow, maybe grow within the community,” explained John Drew Jr., president of the firm, who also attended the Hotel Eatonton news conference. “We try and balance out our portfolio with a large project and small project, as well. This hotel is something we’re going to own and operate ourselves.”
Drew also said smaller projects like this in Eatonton “sometimes are a lot more fun, because it’s much more personal with the community.” He said the company is actively considering a similar project near Washington, D.C. right now, too.
“That’s really it. I mean, we’re hoping to do more,” he stressed. “We have been looking for quite some time at historic buildings and preservation. We think there’s a kind of niche in some of these communities to do something very similar to this.”
With preliminary plans and artist renderings of what the yet-to-be-renamed Old Hotel Eatonton might look like in the future, Drew, along with Austin Bell, director of development services and managing director for the Atlanta office, and Drew Company COO and General Counsel Theonie Alicandro, described what may be coming soon.
Plans call for retaining the current structure’s historic façade, though no one could guarantee the Hotel Eatonton moniker would remain.
Entering through the front doors, a small lounge/bar would be built to the immediate left with the check-in desk for the hotel nearby.
On the right will be a full-service restaurant with its kitchen taking up most of the right, rear area of the ground floor.
Beyond the check-in desk will be a small retail space, possibly a gift shop or convenience store, with stairs leading upward toward the left, and an elevator installed to reach seven rooms to be established within the original footprint of the existing structure.
Additionally, 43 more rooms would be added in a new structure extending southward alongside Marion Street, with plans for a rooftop bar atop the addition.
“The building has great bones. We had our structural engineer walking around here today and he said it’s got great bones,” said Bell, himself an architect. “And the brick on the exterior has held up real well, and in the interior, there’s not a lot of point work. The windows look good, too, so for the most part, everything looks pretty good.”
Despite the existence of drawings and renderings, final architectural plans still need to be drawn up and construction is unlikely to begin until next spring at the earliest, Alicandro said.
He added that depending on when work actually starts, it will be “at least the fourth quarter of 2024,” and maybe the first quarter of 2025 or even later before the renovated hotel could open for business.