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Cloudy. Low 59F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken after Hotel Aiken is demolished was shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night. This rendering is shown from the perspective of the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken shows the building from the perspective of Richland Avenue. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the first floor of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the third and fourth floors of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. A note says that the second floor is similar. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the fifth floor of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken shows the building from the perspective of Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken was shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night. This rendering is shown from the perspective of the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This conceptual master plan by the Raines Company shows the currently proposed layout of Project Pascalis in downtown Aiken. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken after Hotel Aiken is demolished was shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night. This rendering is shown from the perspective of the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the first floor of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the third and fourth floors of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. A note says that the second floor is similar. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken shows the building from the perspective of Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken was shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night. This rendering is shown from the perspective of the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
On a night when Aiken's Design Review Board voted to approve the demolition of Hotel Aiken, the board also got to see renderings of how the rebuilt hotel could look.
The new hotel is a part of Project Pascalis, the city of Aiken's downtown revitalization project, and will be located at the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street.
Taking the place of Hotel Aiken, the planned 100-key hotel will feature lots of windows, some historical touches and could boast a rooftop bar and restaurant.
The new building's developers presented the designs during the board's work session Tuesday. ODA Architecture, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is the lead architect on the hotel.
Stephen Overcash, managing principal of the company, described the proposed five-story building as having a painted brick base in an off-white color, with the exterior above the base being stucco.
This proposed rendering of the new hotel in downtown Aiken shows the building from the perspective of Richland Avenue. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
“We wanted to pay homage to the existing hotel, which is white stucco," he said.
Overcash said it was important to engage passersby along both Richland Avenue and Laurens Street by having glass on both street sides.
“When you’re looking in, you’ll see people checking in, people sitting, people at the bar, people dining, people meeting," Overcash said.
On Laurens Street, designs show a covered outdoor area with tables next to the hotel for people to take a seat and have a drink or enjoy a meal.
The building will sit 2-3 feet further back from the street than the existing building, Overcash said.
Other hotel features include a rooftop terrace and restaurant; dining, a bar and lounge area on the bottom and top floors; and a courtyard behind the hotel.
This proposed floor plan, shown to the Design Review Board on Tuesday night shows how the fifth floor of Aiken's new downtown hotel could look. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
The courtyard could be accessed from either inside the hotel or through an alleyway off Laurens Street, which Overcash said would have gas lanterns lighting the way.
Plans call for three of the original windows from the existing hotel to be salvaged, refurbished and placed over the new hotel's main entrance along Richland Avenue. These windows include a semi-circle Georgian window and two oval windows that are currently in Hotel Aiken's gables.
In the application seeking approval for Hotel Aiken's demolition, the applicants, RPM Development Partners LLC and Raines Development, note that they "intend to salvage and repurpose usable and historically significant materials from the existing property to incorporate into new construction when possible and practical, noting many interior features have been removed by prior owners."
Overcash also said there are no plans to have an over-street connector walkway between the hotel and conference center. Living in Charlotte, Overcash said he saw how these connectors "stripped the life" from retailers below and separated the "haves from the have-nots."
"We want our guests to leave (the hotel's) front door and walk in front of restaurants and (shops) and go in and use downtown Aiken’s amenities," he said. "We don’t want them slipping over to the conference center in an over-street (connector walkway) and saying, ‘I don’t really want to go down and visit Aiken. I just want to stay up here in the conference center.’"
This is the third time members of the development team have met with the Aiken Design Review Board. In the interest of public feedback, a public forum is being planned for the last week of March, said Brandon Graham, vice president of development for Raines.
At that time, there would hopefully be designs for all aspects of Project Pascalis, including the hotel, conference center, apartments and parking structure. Graham said they "want to make themselves available due to the magnitude of the project."
The team will also be coming back before the Design Review Board on March 17 for another work session.
After a question arose around whether Project Pascalis plans would have to go before Aiken City Council for approval, Tim O'Briant said "the redevelopment plan was the initial step that was approved by council."
O'Briant is Aiken's economic development director and the executive director of the Aiken Municipal Development Commission. He attended the work session representing the commission, which owns the property.
The only item that would need to go before council would be any conveyance of public right-of-way on Newberry Street for the project, he said.
"Most of our right-of-way is (S.C. Department of Transportation) right-of-way," O'Briant said later. "The important distinction is that Newberry Street is both right-of-way, and it is exclusively city property. It is not a state road."
As a whole, Project Pascalis is made up of eight parcels in downtown Aiken, bounded by Laurens Street, Richland Avenue and Newberry Street. Of those, seven were purchased by the Aiken Municipal Development Commission for $9.5 million in early November 2021.
The eighth parcel is 121 Newberry St. S.W., the former home of a State Farm Insurance office. This parcel is owned by Aiken Alley Holdings LLC; Ray Massey is listed as the registered agent on the website for South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond.
The Aiken Standard has previously reported that Massey is part of a group of local investors involved with Project Pascalis.
A previously proposed master plan shows a layout for a hotel, conference center, apartments, parking structure and a reconfigured Newberry Street.
This conceptual master plan by the Raines Company shows the currently proposed layout of Project Pascalis in downtown Aiken. (Courtesy/Raines Company)
The conference center would wrap around an existing building in The Alley that currently houses local businesses including Gallery J Salon, Takosushi, The Alley Downtown Taproom, Art & Soul of Aiken, Bechtel and Woodchuckers Axe Throwing. None of the businesses fronting The Alley would be impacted by the redevelopment, O'Briant previously said.
In a way, The Alley will be extended with the construction of the conference center along Newberry Street. The street currently has a northbound lane and a southbound lane; the vision is that the southbound lane, closest to The Alley, would be torn up and built on top of, including widened sidewalks.
The plan is for the conference center to be owned by the city and operated by what is currently Newberry Hall, O'Briant has previously said.
Several businesses on Richland Avenue, including Taj Aiken, Security Finance, Nationwide and On Board Realty, would be impacted by these plans. On Newberry Street, Newberry Hall and Warneke Cleaners would be impacted.
The city has said it will work with impacted businesses to assist them with finding new locations.
In the Aiken Design Review Board's regular meeting, it voted to approve the demolition of Hotel Aiken and 106 Laurens St. S.W., which contains Beyond Bijoux, Ginger Bee Boutique and Vampire Penguin Aiken.
The approval came with some conditions, including that no demolition would occur without fully approved plans in place and after adequate public input has been received.
Speaking about the existing hotel during the work session prior to the vote, O'Briant emphasized that no preemptive demolition would occur.
“Demolition will happen right before the footings are going in for new construction," O'Briant said. "That’s how concerned we would be about representing the interests of this community and making sure that we don’t end up with a demolition that then goes sideways.”
Landon Stamper covers the city of Aiken, while dabbling in health and sports. Follow him on Twitter: @landoncstamper.
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