Levy takes deck out of Hawthorn addition plans
The Historic Preservation Commission will review the updated version of project.
Rome businessman Ira Levy will be back in front of the Rome Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday with changes in his plans for another expansion of the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham. The biggest change involves the elimination of a parking deck on the second level of the building.
“By eliminating the deck, I eliminate $2 million from the budget,” Levy said. “When I put it out to bid and the pricing came back, I said I’ve got to revisit this.”
He said that soils in that location would have required pilings to support the additional weight of automobiles.
Instead, he is in talks with Rome and Floyd County officials about a long term lease of space in the Third Avenue parking deck. His latest drawings for the 40-plus room fourstory addition to the hotel shows a walkway connecting from the fourth floor of the hotel to the upper level of the parking deck.
Eliminating the deck did not add any rooms to the hotel. The main floor will be reconfigured and the architects have created two larger conference rooms on the ground floor. One will accommodate 120-125 people while the other will nearly double that and hold approximately 250.
The new addition will be lined up parallel to the Oostanaula River. Rooms that overlook the river will have balconies, those facing the parking lot off West First Street will not.
“Who wants to look at a parking lot,” Levy said.
The parking lot will be reconfigured as well, to include approximately 60 spaces. When that is full, hotel guests would then use the Third Avenue parking deck.
Levy said that if the HPC approves the changes, he will put the project back out for bid, and in fact has sent out some plans, based on his proposed changes, to several contractors already.
“We could start construction in three or four months,” Levy said. That would dovetail into the projected completion of his Lofts at Third and Broad, which are still slated to come on line during the first quarter of 2019.