An Atlanta hotel developer has been named to design, build and operate a convention hotel at the Savannah trade center.
The Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center Authority voted unanimously this week to begin working with Atlanta-based Songy Highroads LLC on the convention hotel on Hutchinson Island, according to a report by BusinessinSavannah.com.
Songy is partnering with Omni Hotels on the project, a hotel with at least 300 rooms to be built on property just west of the trade center. They will now move into its pre-development phase.
“We’ll now begin discussions with this fantastic development team to identify and clear all the hurdles that are typical of a project of this scope,” Trade Center Authority Chairman Mark Smith told BusinessinSavannah.com.
Other hotel projects in the area are in various stages of construction. Once all are completed, including the Hutchinson Island convention hotel, the number of rooms available for conventioneers in Savannah could number more than 2,000.
The trade center maintains and regularly updates a list of major conventions that would like to consider Savannah if it had more rooms in close proximity, Smith noted in the story about the Dec. 14 authority vote.
Songy Highroads (SHR) focuses primarily on urban infill projects with emphasis on the office and hotel sectors. It has developed projects from Dallas to Washington, D.C. A wholly owned subsidiary, Highroads Holdings LLC, provides third-party management, leasing and brokerage services for institutional and SHR-owned properties.
Current projects in SHR’s portfolio include the Hyatt Place Houston, Cypress Executive Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the Sheraton Metairie in Louisiana.
Songy Highroads was one of three finalists named to develop, build and operate the Savannah convention hotel earlier this year. The other two finalists were ARCADD of Boston and CWT Holdings, the company that owns the Westin on Hutchinson Island.
In September, officials with the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center asked Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to include funds in the state’s 2017 budget to design an expansion that would include another 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and meeting rooms. Read more here.
