Development group presents Pine Avenue hotel proposal to Albany City Commission

ALBANY, Ga. – After years of inactivity, the plans to turn the old Water, Gas and Light building at 207 Pine Avenue were once again on the table Tuesday morning.

A New Group, Illinois-based, CL Real Estate Development presented their vision for not just the building on Pine but the old Albany Herald offices as well.

“We proposed a 46 million dollar total project for these two buildings. For the hotel, we think it will bring a lot of people to downtown, and will be a successful project to revitalize that area of the downtown,” said Nathan Watson, CL Real Estate Development.

We caught up with Ward 1 Commissioner, Jon Howard following the meeting about the plans for the hotel…

Plans that had been in the works as far back as 2019.

Commissioner Howard says that plans had to change due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We realized that we couldn’t control COVID, but now that they’re coming in, I think it’s a win-win for the city and those developers who want to come to Albany and revitalize downtown,” said Jon Howard, Ward 1 Commissioner, City of Albany.

But, as the city and CL Real Estate make the next steps in the planning process, the development group is optimistic that they’ll breathe new life into the Water, Gas and Light building.

“Our level of confidence is high. We wouldn’t be here, multiple times this year, doing our due diligence if we didn’t ultimately think this would be a successful project. So, we proposed something that we think is feasible and something that could be done in three years time,” said Watson.

And, the hotel would naturally be a major revenue generator for the Good Life City.

“It is a step in the right direction. It’s that when you have visitors coming into the city and spending money, it will certainly enhance other businesses and enticing people to come downtown,” said Commissioner Howard.

Should the city and CL Real Estate come to an agreement of proposals succeed, it would be another notch towards reinvigorating downtown Albany.

The CL Real Estate development group said their timeline estimates the project to take between 30 and 36 months.

Brian Roche reporting.

Copyright 2023 CBS 44 South Georgia. All rights reserved.