A recent City Talk column praised many aspects of hotelier Richard Kessler’s Plant Riverside project at the west end of River Street.
Of course, he’s not the only hotel developer in town. Other hotels along River Street will also bring economic activity, and we’re likely to see more hotels built on the edges of the Historic District.
As we consider current and future development, it’s worth keeping in mind that there is no law mandating that hotels be built on every lot that can accommodate one. We could have large-scale residential development too.
Of course, it’s easy to see why new hotels are dominating the downtown landscape. Leisure tourists and business travelers love Savannah, and we have solid systems in place for attracting even more of them in the future.
We also have government bureaucracies and elected officials who are betting on the trend.
I’m sure some hoteliers would counter that they routinely face significant bureaucratic hurdles, including thorny zoning and design restrictions.
But take a look at all the downtown hotels constructed over the last 20 years. The hurdles obviously aren’t insurmountable.
As the hotel business has been booming, the Historic District’s population has been decreasing. Maybe the trends aren’t related, but the shift is impacting the downtown economy.
Take a look at the U.S. Census tract that includes most of the Historic District from River Street to Liberty Street. From 2000 to 2010, the population of that tract fell 14.5 percent to 1,886.
An adjacent tract that includes Abercorn Street south of Liberty saw a similar decline.
Sure, we’re likely to see continued residential development on the upper floors of Broughton Street and to see new residential infill throughout the downtown area.
Sure, on the fringes of downtown, we’re seeing larger apartment complexes marketed primarily to college students.
But if we had a clearer sense of what we want the downtown area to look like in 10, 20, 30 years, we could get policies in place that would incentivize residential development in a more meaningful way.
Imagine the impact on the downtown economy if a couple of the newer hotels on Bay Street were apartment buildings instead. Imagine if the Plant Riverside development included a large apartment complex.
When I’ve hit these themes in previous columns, some readers have assumed that I want Savannah to attract fewer tourists or that I think the tourism industry should stop growing.
That’s not the case at all. I’d like many more tourists each year to have the chance to enjoy Savannah’s wonders.
But I’d also like more residents to be able to afford to live in safe, lovely neighborhoods near the core of the city.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached at billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.