From the Ground Up of Georgia Representative Mike Couch, a former resident of Milledgeville and past executive director of Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority, announced plans for a new four-star Hilton Hotel project on North Jefferson Street in Milledgeville.
Several local and out-of-state business representatives and affiliates with The Duck Yard, LLC, a Georgia limited liability company that would develop the project, presented the project Tuesday night before the city council with full support from Milledgeville Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan and council members.
“This is a report to leadership for about 18 months of work,” said Couch. “We want to talk about the potential of a Hilton Hotel conference center in downtown Milledgeville.
“Nothing happens without ownership,” he added. “So, I’ll ask the Fowler Flemister-Pursley family to stand up. This is the local fire behind this entire project. We are lucky and fortunate to have them. They’ve been committed from day one.”
Project planning began in February last year. Couch has met with GCSU President Cathy Cox, the Chamber of Commerce, the mayor, state representatives, the Downtown Development Authority, and other local leaders and organizations and said he received “absolute endorsement that we need this in downtown.”
Joe Greco president of Lord Aeck Sargent, an architectural and design firm in Atlanta, said the company has worked in Milledgeville for the last 30 years on 12 projects, including the Old Capital Building and Georgia’s Old Governor's Mansion.
“We wanted to keep a design that was built on the history of Milledgeville and that would blend in with the downtown,” said Greco. “This would be a multi-conference facility and hotel, so it includes a large conference space that can also work for events such as weddings. There will also be a rooftop terrace and plans for a restaurant.”
According to Greco, the main hotel block will be located at the center of the site in order to avoid any conflict with residential streetscapes. The existing Victorian home at the center of the site will be repurposed to a restaurant and the Duckworth sheds will be transformed into conference venues at the back of the site, he added.
Parking will be located at the rear on Elbert Street nearest to the highway. Greco stated this decision was made to avoid putting a parking lot on a “more residential street.”
“It’s an ensemble, not a single building,” said Greco. “It’s intended to have a lot of walkable, friendly spaces including restaurants, homes, rooftop terraces, parks, and lower scale buildings that face the residential neighborhood, so it is a connected, vibrant part of the community.”
Hospitality hotel expert Will Perry, co-founder of Spark Hudson, said feasibility reports on Milledgeville “sized up the market well.” He said limited-service hotels dominate what currently exists in town.
“We spent about three to four weeks of our study talking with the community and determined where the market you don’t see is going. We took those into consideration when determining target hotel size,” said Perry. “We have about 100 to 125 room keys, but it will be refined. The ball room is oversized, which is based on feedback we received as the town does not have that type of facility currently.”
Perry said Hilton was selected as the hotel operator largely because Marriott represents approximately 70 percent of room keys available locally and his analysts felt that was “starting to get a little saturated and Hilton is equally a powerful brand.”
Studies also support that when an area goes into an “economic downtown” that branded hotels do significantly better than independent hotels, he added.
“There was a lot of thought and consideration into who those state planners are and where we will see the market in the next 10 to 20 years as we move ahead,” said Perry. “We do have a binding LOI (letter of intent) on the table at this point with Hilton. We are in a good place with Hilton and are considering the Graduate Hotel on the top of the list. The Tapestry Collection is a fall-back brand we are considering. We are in a pretty good and secure place for the branding contracts.”
Couch stated the aim of the presentation, and the project, is to ensure the hotel meets what local leadership determines is appropriate, needed, and beneficial to downtown Milledgeville.
“We will be in Palm Beach in Florida on Friday to meet with potential investors. What they (investors) want to know is that this is what the community wants and desires,” said Couch.
The Milledgeville city council concluded the presentation by adopting an official resolution to show support for the project.