A Pittsburgh-based restaurant is bringing its “Southern Table” down to Savannah’s developing Eastern Wharf waterfront community east of downtown.
The 6,329-square-foot Coop De Ville establishment will be located on the ground floor of the 6-story Riverworks building on Eastern Wharf’s northwest end, according to the plans submitted for city review last week. The project includes a mezzanine with a grand staircase and duckpin bowling alley.
The website describes Coop De Ville as “a southern table, fast-casual restaurant, bar and entertainment space.” It says diners will see fried chicken as the “headlining ingredient”, along with “classic southern side dishes, fresh baked pies, and pastries.” Activities at the establishment include duckpin bowling, arcade games, pinball and billiards.
Of course, duckpin bowling and dining is nothing new in Savannah. You can find all that now at Moodright’s at 2424 Abercorn Street, along with some live country twang at the adjoining pub and restaurant Over Yonder. If it's pinball and arcade games you’re looking for, you’ll find both, along with cold beer and food, at The Portal on West Broughton Street.
Savannah Agenda reached out to the applicants behind the plans on Monday morning and an update will be published in a future column if a response is received.
Long vacant, fire damaged historic property in Cuyler-Brownville is to be home again under New York org’s plan
Constructed in 1902 on what was West Broad Street, it’s been more than two decades since anyone lived in the 2-story wood frame dwelling just south of 38th Street. Pass by today, you’ll see the burnt up remnants of the structure on what is now 2205 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Named for its original occupants, A.J. and Effie Thorpe, the Galvan Foundation is now planning to make long vacant Thorpe house someone’s home once again, as the New York-based nonprofit developer moves forward with mixed-income housing plans for historic Cuyler-Brownville.
After purchasing the property from the Historic Savannah Foundation last year, a Galvan subsidiary recently submitted plans to rehabilitate 2205 MLK and build a carriage house on the lot, as was shown in historic Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. In addition, the subsidiary, Savannah Local Initiatives, submitted construction plans to build a matching dwelling and carriage house on the adjacent vacant, where the same maps show a similar structure had stood for more than 100 years. Google Street View shows that the building was demolished between 2007 and 2012.
The renovation and construction plans are scheduled to go before the Historic Preservation Commission for consideration on May 24.
As part of the sale, HSF placed a 10-year affordability covenant and deed restriction pertaining to the use and resale of the property. The covenant requires that affordable units not have a rent that exceeds the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development published fair market rents for Chatham County and that the affordable units must not have a household income that exceeds 120% of Area Median Income.
The Galvan subsidiary also submitted plans to construct three homes on vacant lots on the 700 block of Lavinia Street, east of Ogeechee Road, following the Chatham County-Savannah Land Bank Authority's recent approval to sell the former city properties. The proposed 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom homes planned for the vacant lots are considered “affordable” under the LBA’s guidelines and requirements, which establishes a maximum sales price to ensure most properties can be purchased by households earning 80% of the area median income or less.
In addition, the LBA agreed to sell a dilapidated single-family house at 923 W. 40th St. to the Galvan subsidiary to rehabilitate the structure, under the plan approved last month.
The pending LBA sales are the first four of 19 former city properties the Savannah City Council agreed to sell as part of the New York-based nonprofit’s Cuyler Brownville housing initiative.
SCAD’s plan for former Ghost Coast Distillery building approved
The Savannah College of Art and Design will not have to worry about getting a refund, following the recent acquisition of the former Ghost Coast Distillery building.
The university’s plans to convert the structure to serve students, rather than spirits, was approved by the Historic District Board of Review last week.
The proposed alterations and rehabilitations by Hansen Architects were approved after the university closed on the property at 641 West Indian St. for $5 million on May 1, according to sales records.
SCAD is planning to renovate the structure for “state-of-the-art” classrooms, according to a statement issued to Savannah Agenda by the university last month. The building plans show a photo shooting studio, photo studio checkout and equipment room, computer labs and a gallery.
Constructed in 1958, the former warehouse is a non-historic structure with the Downtown Historic District that was altered in 2015 for use as the distillery. SCAD’s acquisition of the building further establishes the university’s presence along the short stretch of Indian Street extending east from the Talmadge Bridge to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The corridor includes SCAD’s Alexander Hall, Adler Hall, Fahm Hall and Hamilton Hall. In addition, the Ghost Coast building is located next to a new SCAD parking garage and across the street from a 17-story student housing complex being built for the university.
Ghost Coast opened in 2017 with the assistance of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, which provided a 5-year property tax abatement that ended in 2021. The distillery’s product line included whisky, vodka, gin and rum before the owners shut down operations late last year after attributing the closure to “economic conditions” on social media, according to news reports.
