Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnNada
Please let this be something substantial. 5 or 6 stories of parking garage with a 10 to 12 story hotel on top would be nice. Something taller than anything else downtown would be awesome.
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It is all speculation as details are very scarce on the new hotel...
It is also speculation that this would be a Hyatt Place property, I think if it is Hyatt that there is nearly a 100% certainty it would be a Hyatt Place.
After seen several of these personally and after checking out those in the Mid-Atlantic/Mid-west region of a similar size - 150 rooms - Hyatt does not seem to deviate much from a basic design. Most of those that are in comparison have ample footprints permitting open air, lot parking around the perimeter of the property, this site in Charleston does not have that luxury.
The current Fifth Quarter parking set up has just under 100 spaces. If we assume a standard set up:
A new parking garage would run the length of the property nearest to the Beni Kedem Temple. It would probably be a 3 floor structure and with only one row of spaces on each side (severe space limitations force this) it would host ~60 spaces per floor for 180 total. Depending on how the tower is sited, there will be a dozen to 2 dozen more spaces near the main entrance to the property for valet, emergency and special delivery vehicles like limousines. If we assume that the main entrance is on Quarrier and sides up to Clendenin Street a loop is formed that has an entrance off of Clendenin, though a drop off area and either into the garage or exit onto Quarrier.
This would put the tower roughly on the site where the existing restaurant is located. The hotel would have a larger footprint that would run all the way back to Civic Center Drive. This allows a floor plan large enough to have 16 rooms per floor from the 3rd floor up. Hyatt Place rooms are generous in size so I doubt you would get more than 8 per side of the central corridor.
The main floor is usually a story and a half in height but some of those I have been were double height levels. I am not sure how Hyatt might do this one, but if they chose a double height level, the portion of the tower backing onto Civic Center Drive might include an indoor pool and fitness center.
If there is enough room in the foot print Hyatt almost always has a Starbucks on site as well as a few other associated retailers. Assuming that Hyatt would lease these spaces, it will need a second floor level for guest business affairs and meeting rooms as well as its own administrative needs.
The tower would have direct access to the garage. The 1st and 2nd levels of the garage would access the Main floor of the hotel and the 3rd level of the hotel would access the 2nd level of the hotel.
If we assume the 150 rooms detail is a target it may not be too solid until a design is put forth. Personally I find convention center hotels need more and not less rooms but this is a small convention market in comparison to other regional cities.
If we assume the hotel has a double height main floor for the lobby and a second floor devoted to services and administrative offices and we have 16 rooms per floor; an 11-floor tower has 9 floors for rooms with 144 rooms and a 12-floor has 160.
The 150-room Hyatt Place 12-floor tower would be small compared to either the 352-room Marriott at 16-floors and the 283-suite Embassy at 9-floors, but it is only slightly smaller than the 176-room 12-floor Four Seasons.
I am not sure of the vacancy rate in Charleston but with essentially a new Convention Center and the seemingly imminent closure of the Heart-o-Town twins, it might be wise to be larger than 150 rooms.
Whatever comes out of this, I think it is safe to say a small hotel is not going to be worth the money there and something at least on the order of what my pea-brain can generate is the minimum.
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