The Commons at Imperial Hotel

Project Description

The Imperial Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, which opened in 1911, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a recognized Landmark Building by the City of Atlanta. The building has undergone an extensive renovation for its new use providing state of the art permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless and persons with special needs. The building now offers: Ninety living units, tenant support and services suite, and community amenities that include meeting rooms, computer stations, a lobby, and fitness room. This adaptive use project built to LEED™ (GOLD) for Homes Multifamily Mid-Rise certification and includes dramatic improvements to building envelope and installationof all new high-efficiency building systems.

The development team that included Columbia Residential and National Church Residences leveraged both State of Georgia and Federal tax incentives available for historic preservation projects, which required review and approval of the design by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service. In addition, as a recognized local Landmark Building, all work on the building required review by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission.

The building is nine stories tall and has a gross building area of 59,368 square feet and is constructed with a cast-in-place reinforced concrete frame with brick veneer walls. The location is uniquely suited to the re-purposing for permanent supportive housing, with accessible transit, services, health facilities, community institutions, and employment.

The Commons at Imperial Hotel had to overcome many obstacles, starting with ‘rescuing’ the building from foreclosure and displacement of existing residents. A creative acquisition structure and unwind of the prior partnerships allowed the acquisition to go forward. The financing required a great deal of creativity and seven separate sources of financing to be orchestrated to allow for the development. Many challenges were overcome during design and construction balancing historic preservation with 21st century systems and operations (including controlled access, security systems, smart-building HVAC and electrical systems, etc.). There was also great care given to the residents who were in the building upon acquisition, through a careful relocation and provision of services through the development period, allowing for residents who wished to return to have priority.

The Commons at the Imperial Hotel was built to standards to obtain at least a LEED Gold certification from USGBC (via South Face). This certification was pursued because the original attempt by another development team went into foreclosure in no small part due to it inefficiency resulting in very high utility costs and inefficiency on HVAC, water, electric. The development team made a commitment to sustainability and energy/utility efficiency from the outset and as a guiding principle of the redevelopment, determined not to repeat this mistake.