Former Broughton Municipal Building on way to becoming “Savannah’s living room”

Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to clarify that Lynch Associates Architects serve as the hotel’s architect and AAmp Studio as the interior designer.

Almost five years after the city sold the former Broughton Municipal Building, work recently began to convert the historic mid-century structure into a luxury boutique hotel.

The new hospitality company behind the project, Midnight Auteur, says that the hotel, which they are calling the Municipal Grand, will be opening in early 2025.

“We were very lucky to find this property in Savannah, which will enable us to bring our vision to life in one of our favorite cities in the world," said co-founder David Kaplan. "While it may be a lofty ambition, we hope to create a space that can serve as Savannah’s living room.”

Located at Abercorn and Broughton streets, the future hotel was constructed in 1959 as an office building for the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. In more recent years, the 6-story building housed various city departments, where residents could pay their utility bills.

The building has been vacant since the city sold the property in June 2019 and the previous owner's plans to rehabilitate the structure failed to move forward. The current ownership group acquired the property in 2022. Born from the partnership between the owners of The Ramble Hotel in Denver and Death & Co., Midnight Auteur began almost six years ago when the cocktail bar opened its second location in the hotel’s lobby.

The hospitality company holds a "deep, and slightly obsessive, reverence" for the all-day lobby bar, said CEO Ryan Diggins.

“We love the idea of immersing our team and our guests in a vibrant, celebratory experience that only a hotel lobby bar can appropriately capture," Diggins said. "The community created and hospitality shared over a coffee or cocktail is something we’re passionate about, and look forward to bringing to Savannah."

'A gathering space to build meaningful community'

In addition to the lobby bar, the Municipal Grand is expected to feature 44 guest rooms, a restaurant, a rooftop pool, and subterranean bar. According to the hospitality group’s project description, the hotel’s architect, Lynch Associates Architects, and interior designer, AAmp Studio, have restored and preserved in its design as much of the building's original 1960s-era charm as possible, while “simultaneously celebrating and offsetting the property’s concrete exterior with softened elements, such as curved interior walls and arched openings that invite passersby and guests into a series of connected, warm, and lush spaces within.”

Co-founder Alex Day said the hospitality group envisions the future hotel as a "gathering place in service to building a meaningful community."

"And while we’re excited to share our passion for hospitality and great food and beverage with Savannah, we’re equally excited for Municipal Grand to become ingrained in the city’s daily life, our offerings and approach evolving as we become a part of such a vibrant community," Day said.

The renovation work is now proceeding after the Chatham County Board of Assessors voted last April to remove a preferential tax assessment for rehabilitating historic properties due to the project’s delayed start. Prior to the loss of the preferential assessment, the building’s tax appraised value had been frozen at $4.4 million since 2020, after the city sold the property for $4.5 million in June 2019 to the previous owner, Columbia Ventures. Last year, the building's appraised value increased to almost $5.9 million. The current ownership group acquired the property for almost $6.3 million in 2022.

"The preferential assessment is an important component of our historic preservation and we plan on re-applying,” Diggins said.

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Where will city offices go?

After relocating from the Broughton Street building in 2019, the city's billing services department is now located at the Coastal Georgia Center at 305 Fahm St., which is leased for $44,795 per month. With the lease’s pending expiration in May, the city does plan on extending the agreement, according to a city spokesperson.

The city had the right of reversion to re-purchase the property if construction did not commence within 24 months of closing, but in 2021 the city chose not to exercise that option to re-acquire the property. Now the city is seeking to provide additional office space for employees following sale of the building and other properties. Among the options being considered is the construction of a new office building on the north side of the Civic Center. That plan, as well as other options for the Civic Center site, is expected to be brought to the city council for consideration this year, according to city officials.

The conversion of the former Broughton Municipal Building is the latest among multiple downtown office buildings being transferred into hotels. A historic downtown high-rise office building overlooking Johnson Square is being rehabilitated for use as a Ritz-Carlton hotel, while New York-based LEFT LANE is converting the Manger office building across the square into a hotel. The Marriott also recently acquired the Hunter Maclean building at 200 E. Saint Julian St., across the street from a new Tempo brand hotel being built by Hilton on the site of a former office building that was demolished for that project.

The loss of office space downtown is part of the motivation behind a planned office complex west of Forsyth Park’s south end, according to the property owners.

Eric Curl was a Savannah Morning News reporter for 14 years. After leaving the News, he launched Savannahagenda.com, to grow awareness and engagement with local planning, zoning and development decisions, business development and community causes.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hotel developers reveal plans for former Broughton Municipal Building