Hotel developer Richard Kessler debuted his plans for the Plant Riverside site during Thursday’s Savannah City Council workshop.
The Savannah native, who purchased the property for $9 million on New Year’s Eve, will convert the former power station into a boutique hotel to be called the Grand Bohemian at Historic Power Plant.
The development will also include upscale retail, art galleries, a restaurant and a combination exhibition space/parking garage. The plan is to initially keep a grassed plaza to the east of the power plant in the cleared area where the plant’s transformers once stood.
That section of the site will be reserved for future development.
Kessler estimated the investment at more than $100 million and the project would employ 300 to 400 workers once completed.
The hotel will feature 160 rooms and will be the seventh Kessler has developed in the Historic District since launching his development career in 1970. His other notable projects include the Kehoe House, the Mansion on Forsyth Park and the Bohemian on River St.
Return to savannahnow.com and see Friday's Savannah Morning News for the complete story and artists' renderings of the project.