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Winecoff Hotel

tombarnes

By tombarnes
in Atlanta

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Are there any current plans for the old Winecoff Hotel on Peachtree at Ellis? It should definitely be preserved. When I last saw it, it was boarded up and vacant. Here's an article I ran across at Rootsweb.com...

http://www.rootsweb.com/~gafulton/winecoffhotel.html

I also found this article from 2004 in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. I hope Mr. Holtze hasn't lost interest....

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories.../29/story8.html

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Martinman Burg

Martinman

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Are there any current plans for the old Winecoff Hotel on Peachtree at Ellis? It should definitely be preserved. When I last saw it, it was boarded up and vacant. Here's an article I ran across at Rootsweb.com...

http://www.rootsweb.com/~gafulton/winecoffhotel.html

I also found this article from 2004 in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. I hope Mr. Holtze hasn't lost interest....

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories.../29/story8.html

I believe the deal mentioned in that article is dead. I remember reading that there was some interest in doing something with it by some foreign group but no firm plans have been released. The Glenn's rehabilitation has finally come to fruition so hopefully it won't be long until the Winecoff and Medical Arts return to life. Both will be beautiful when that happens.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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I wonder how much of a role the Winecoff's history has played in redevelopment plans? I am personally not all that superstitious yet I am not sure how I would feel about sleeping in a building where 119 people had gone to fiery deaths.

Atlanta has had other fatal highrise fires since the Winecoff tragedy, although thankfully not on the scale of the 1949 disaster. (While the Winecoff fire provoked some changes in fire codes, many buildings remained unsprinklered for decades as I don't believe retrofitting was required until fairly recently). I've met survivors and some have very strong feelings about the buildings where the fires took place. Perhaps there is concern that guests in a new hotel in the same building might might feel uneasy in a structure where so many perished not too long ago.

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terminus Crossroads

terminus

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The last article I read was in the AJC last April. http://www.ajc.com/business/content/busine...owntown.html%23

According to it:

"The downtown push is so strong it even appears to be floating the historic Winecoff Hotel. Shuttered for decades, the site of the nation's worst hotel fire is in line to reopen in 2007 as a full-service boutique hotel. Similar plans have been lofted for years. But Atlanta development officials are confident that the new team can finish the job. The Winecoff is to be run by Boykin Management Co., which operates 31 hotels nationwide."

we'll see. don't see anything on Boykin's website though.

http://www.boykin.com/

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  • 2 months later...
Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Has there been any movement on this project? I'd hate to see this building destroyed. It's far too important to the history of Atlanta to be demolished.

Well, it's an incredibly grisly part of Atlanta history. At the time of the fire the building wasn't particularly old or historic -- only 33 years, which is the age of the Peachtree Plaza today.

It's an attractive structure but it's hardly a style that could not easily be replicated. The Peachtree in Midtown, for instance, is a better looking building in the same style and of a similar scale, but it's safer, more pedestrian friendly, more functional, has underground parking, and it lacks the horrifying history of the Winecoff.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Grisly history or no, the Winecoff still deserves to be rescued.

Well, perhaps we simply have differing views on this. As I say, the hotel was neither old (33 years, the same as the Peachtree Plaza is now) nor historic when the horrific fire occurred. Since that time it has really played no significant role in the city's activity or commerce. The only thing I can ever remember being there was a retirement home, although I don't think I ever saw one person walk in or out the building during the 10 years that I worked one block away. It had a forbidding presence even in the 1970's.

If it's a matter of architecture, projects like The Peachtree demonstrate that we can readily produce buildings of a similar style and scale, which are safer, more attractive, and more functional and pedestrian friendly. I'm an ardent fan of Atlanta history but do not believe it's necesesary to save everything simply because it has endured the passage of time, particularly when it's a site stigmatized by one of the most awful tragedies in modern American urban life.

If a new and better project can be built, which is consistent with the architecture of old downtown and with the aim of making downtown a walkable, liveable community, then I would not oppose getting rid of a white elephant. The Winecoff was not a historic building when the fire occurred, and it has basically been a blight on downtown ever since.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Good things happening for this property at last! The Business Chronicle says the Winecoff will undergo a complete renovation down to the bare slabs starting next month. It will become a boutique hotel, to open in 2007. The same article suggests that similar changes for the Carnegie Building across the street are also being talked about.

Yay! The Winecoff building has been a stick in downtown's eye for 60 years, it'll be great to see something happen.

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Martinman Burg

Martinman

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Good things happening for this property is happening at last! The Business Chronicle says the Winecoff will undergo a complete renovation down to the bare slabs starting next month. It will become a boutique hotel, to open in 2007. The same article suggests that similar changes for the Carnegie Building across the street are also being talked about.

Yay! The Winecoff building has been a stick in downtown's eye for 60 years, it'll be great to see something happen.

Fantastic! :thumbsup:

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charlotte_bon_vivant Whistle-Stop

charlotte_bon_vivant

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Good things happening for this property is happening at last! The Business Chronicle says the Winecoff will undergo a complete renovation down to the bare slabs starting next month. It will become a boutique hotel, to open in 2007. The same article suggests that similar changes for the Carnegie Building across the street are also being talked about.

That is excellent news, Andrea. Did the article mention which company or companies would be doing the redevelopment?

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Lady Celeste Burg

Lady Celeste

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Good things happening for this property at last! The Business Chronicle says the Winecoff will undergo a complete renovation down to the bare slabs starting next month. It will become a boutique hotel, to open in 2007. The same article suggests that similar changes for the Carnegie Building across the street are also being talked about.

Yay! The Winecoff building has been a stick in downtown's eye for 60 years, it'll be great to see something happen.

It's about time. I am glad to see this moving forward.

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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Groundbreaking is set for April 21. Be there! :D

The building itself is attractive in terms of style, but there is just so much horror and tragedy associated with it. Although it wasn't a historic structure when the fire occurred (about the same age as the Hilton or the Peachtree Plaza), it has least gained age as a hulk in the middle of downtown for 60 years. It's oddly coincidental that the number of rooms will be almost the same as the 119 guests who lost their lives there -- perhaps people who stay at the Winecoff will be oblivious to what happened in those halls, or will have simply forgotten.

I'm very glad something is being done with the property, but I'd much rather see something else there.

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  • 1 month later...
ironchapman City

ironchapman

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Here's an article I found today about the Winecoff's renovation. I don't know if it's got much new in it, but it's nice to have the update, anyways.

Winecoff to reopen as boutique hotel in downtown Atlanta

ATLANTA The Winecoff Hotel -- the site of the nation's deadliest hotel fire -- is being renovated and will reopen as a boutique hotel.

The groundbreaking for the renovation in downtown Atlanta is scheduled for 10 a-m Friday.

The Winecoff -- at 176 Peachtree Street -- is being redeveloped by Kelco/F-B Winecoff L-L-C.

Plans call for the hotel to have 127 rooms when it reopens next year.

I wonder what it will feel like to stay in such a hotel? I wonder if some might find the fact that it was the site of the deadliest hotel fire in the US disturbing?

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Andrea Burg

Andrea

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I wonder what it will feel like to stay in such a hotel? I wonder if some might find the fact that it was the site of the deadliest hotel fire in the US disturbing?

It's chilling that they plan 127 rooms -- just about the number of people who lost their lives in the fire.

The horrific nature of these events is undoubtedly one of the reasons the building has remained a blight on downtown for the last 60 years. Strangely, the "fireproof" construction itself adds to the complexity of any attempt to reuse the existing structure. While the facade of the building is moderately attractive, I'd rather see the site redeveloped into something in keeping with the architectural character of downtown but with fewer emotional and structural problems.

I personally would not stay there.

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Newnan Hamlet

Newnan

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Now would be a great time for Macy's to come back to downtown. The area is starting to thrive again and with the success at Dillards at Atlantic Station, I think it would do great. Maybe in a different location though.

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jhelinski Unincorporated Area

jhelinski

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Now would be a great time for Macy's to come back to downtown. The area is starting to thrive again and with the success at Dillards at Atlantic Station, I think it would do great. Maybe in a different location though.

Yes, I was walking around Downtown today and noticed numerous vacant retail spaces--especially near the old Macy's building. How great would it be if a store like H&M..which I've only seen in NY, San Fran and Boston...came and moved into the old Macy's building.

It is going to take a large retailer that you can't get at Lenox or Phipps to make people go there...and then hopefully other retailers would move in and revitalize these vancant spaces and we would truly have a Downtown shopping district...and not a fake one like Atlantic Station.

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