As Savannah Convention Center hotel takes next step, developer pledges 'all the bells and whistles'

The Savannah Convention Center is one step closer to adding 400 hotel rooms adjacent to the center on Hutchinson Island, a project SCC leaders say is needed to book larger clients in its future expansion space.

The Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority Board approved an agreement for "pre-development services" with Atlanta-based developer Songy Highroads. This phase will allow the partnership to move forward with preliminary design work, budgeting and hotel programming, according to the pre-development agreement.

"I'm so excited about bringing that hotel to Savannah, to our site next door. This is the next step," said Mark V. Smith, chairman of the SGCCA.

The pre-development agreement was approved by the SGCCA a few days before state legislation was passed to help the board finance the project. The bill, HB1041, passed the Georgia Senate on March 18 and will raise the SGCCA's bonding capacity to $400 million once signed into law.

Songy Highroads is a real-estate firm that invests in and manages hotels. Its portfolio includes the Hyatt Place Centennial Park in Atlanta and other hotels across the U.S. in Texas, Florida and D.C. David Songy, chairman of Songy Highroads, said the "built-in demand" set to be brought by the SCC's $276 million expansion makes it an ideal project.

Smith previously said about three dozen potential clients have held out on booking with the SCC until the hotel is built. The groups are looking for about 800 rooms on Hutchinson Island, and a new hotel would provide another 400 to the existing 403-room Westin Savannah Harbor.

In taking on the hotel project, the SGCCA is following a model used by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority to build the 900-room Signia hotel next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The GWCCA financed the project, then partnered with a private developer to run the hotel.

Songy said Atlanta's Signia will serve as inspiration for the Hutchinson Island hotel, which will have a "similar level of quality standards." It will also feature close proximity to the SCC, sitting adjacent to the building with direct connectivity. The proximity will give the new hotel a "competitive advantage" over hotels on the other side of the river, Songy said.

"It will be a modern hotel with all the bells and whistles," Songy said.

In following with the GWCCA model, the SCC is having GWCCA Executive director Frank Poe take point on the Savannah project. Poe said last week the goal is to return the end product back to the SGCCA in a 10-month period, and the pre-development agreement is a "critical step" in moving the project on that timeline.

Smith, the SGCCA chairman, previously said the expected cost of the new hotel will come in near $300 million. The pre-development services approved last week will come in between $6-7 million.

Before the SCC decided to move forward the hotel itself, Songy Highroads was selected for the project in 2017 through a request for proposals process. The plans ultimately lapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and financial markets "dried up," Songy said.

"I think it's impressive, admirable that the (SGCCA) has stayed the course through this, facing challenges, adversity and setbacks over the last seven years," Songy said. "But they kept their eye on the ball to proceed on this project."

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Convention Center hotel proposal goes to pre-development phase