Standing amid historic buildings and fronting one of Savannah’s most prominent downtown squares, two brick-encased block buildings at 33 Bull St. will be turned into something the city “can be proud of,” according to Parker’s founder and CEO Greg Parker, his partner, local business owner Zach Riddle, and the project’s architect, Christian Sottile.

“This is one of the ugliest buildings in Savannah,” Parker said. “Clearly we’re trying to do something that is great for Savannah that will be a legacy project.”

Parker made his comments to the Historic District Board of Review on Wednesday, prior to the board unanimously approving his group’s request for alterations to the Bull Street office building fronting Johnson Square and the connected parking garage fronting Broughton Street.

“I’m so glad we got the building because we’ll spend the money on something we can be proud of,” he said.

The buildings were acquired by 33 Bull Street LLC & 4 Triple Eight LLC, which lists Riddle as the corporation’s organizer and manager, for more than $18 million in December last year, according to property records.

The non-historic 5-story office building and 3-story garage replaced “incredible” high-rise buildings that were demolished in the 1970s, which was “one of the great tragedies in preservation in Savannah” said Jonathan Mellon, Metropolitan Planning Commission director of Historic Preservation & Urban Design.

The planned makeover includes architectural enhancements such as archways and columns under the cracking brick overhangs that are losing their battle to gravity, along with handcrafted copper cornices, raised storefront “expressions” and awnings to create an improved retail “rhythm” on Broughton and a “reborn” restaurant space on the corner facing Johnson Square, Sottile said.

In addition, the building’s dark bricks will be painted an oyster white to be more compatible and “play well with its neighbors,” and the skybridge over West Congress Lane that connects the buildings will also be opened up as a covered breezeway with more design details to make it “less of a pipe”, he said.

Prior to the board’s vote, the plan was endorsed by representatives of the Historic Savannah Foundation and Downtown Neighborhood Association.
“The design and use of materials significantly enhances these buildings for the next chapter of their life and in turn enhances both the Bull Street and Broughton Street corridors and the Johnson Square landscape,” said Ellie Isaacs, HSF’s director of Preservation & Historic Properties.

DNA representative Steve Edwards said that the buildings are a blight on the downtown historic district.

“This goes a long way towards remediating that,” he said of the planned renovations.

Oglethorpe Plan Coalition founder Andrew Jones said he was generally happy with the project but had some concerns about the proposed awnings on Broughton Street being “awfully big” and obscuring some of the building’s features. The vision for the buildings was welcomed by review board members such as Michael Higgins.

“It’s just going to have such a tremendous impact on the area in a positive way,” Higgins said.

“I would like to say to the architect and owners, finally and thank you,” added board member Melissa Rowan.

The owners will need to get pricing and permits before determining an exact timeline for the project, according to Parker’s spokesperson on Thursday. Meanwhile, another Johnson Square building may be getting a makeover. Parker told the review board he intended to return in a few years with plans for the Region Bank building across Johnson Square.

“I think Johnson Square is re-evolving,” he said. “It’s going to be the most important square in Savannah.”

Parker said via his spokesperson on Thursday that it was too soon to provide any details about that plan.

This article appears in Connect Savannah I Best of Savannah.