A petition for a 5-6-story hotel at 301 Tatnall St., abutting Liberty Street, was continued by the Savannah Historic District Board of Review Wednesday to address concerns of height and compatibility with the surrounding area. The hotel proposal is at the vacant lot between the Liberty Street Parking Garage and the retail building home to FraLi Gourmet and Savannah Coffee Roasters .
While the item was continued to address height concerns, the eventual decision by HDBR has the potential to be precedent setting. Just yards across the street is the Savannah Civic Center site, which is slated for future development after Savannah City Council opted in June for a plan that would create developable land on the site.
“We recognize that the design of this building will impact and set a precedent for the new construction that will take place across the street at the Civic Center site,” said Ellie Isaacs, Historic Savannah Foundation’s director of preservation and historic properties. “In agreement with staff’s first concern, the proposed height is not visually compatible with the surrounding contributing context, especially the residential structures to the east.”