The architectural drawings for The New Stone Hotel and The Arcade Hotel renovations are now under review in order to begin the process toward obtaining a building permit.
Developers Tommy Howard and Chris Chain bought the 100-year-old property in 2016 from Susan Mackay and her brother, Wayne Price, with plans to restore the now dilapidated building to its former glory as a mixed use development.
Now, more than a year later, the preliminary architectural plans are in place, and upon approval, Chain said the renovation can begin.
“Nothing has changed, and the plans are still what they were at the beginning,” Chain said. “Once we get the building permit, we can move forward and start working on the rebuild.”
The plans
The architectural plans show many similarities to the original floor plan of The New Stone Hotel back in the early 1900s, with 14,766 square feet of space on the first floor and 13,766 square feet on the second floor. The second floor features eight apartment-style units, and seven suite-style units. There will also be a 1,000 square-foot rooftop garden area.
The plans also showed “The Arcade Apartments” and “The Stone Hotel” signage, which features minor changes from the original names.
Columbus Building Official Ken Wiegel said the documents presented are still in the “preliminary stages” and will be reviewed thoroughly before a building permit is granted.
Naturally, Wiegel said, some projects do not require the submission of architectural plans if minimal work is needed. But with renovations to the extent the hotel will need, as with “ground-up” projects, the architectural plans have to be in order for Wiegel’s office to grant a building permit.
The architectural plans are accompanied by a building permit application from the general contractor, Wiegel said, in order to confirm the contractor has the appropriate licenses.
Now that plans are submitted, the city building department and fire department will review them, which normally takes up to 10 business days — unless concerns raised during the review need to be discussed. Once Wiegel’s office, the fire chief and the city engineer are satisfied, Wiegel said the final step is to notify the architect or general contractor of the project that a permit is ready to be issued.
History of the buildings
Built in 1905, the two buildings have served as hotels, apartments and retailers, including The New Stone Hotel and The Arcade Hotel.
In 1936, Susan Mackay’s grandfather E.W. Price rented one of the building’s space to open Price’s Auto Parts, and in the ’40s he bought both properties. The buildings have since been in Mackay’s family.
After Price closed his auto parts shop, Mackay’s parents opened a children’s clothing store in the ’60s. In 1984, Mackay got to open her own shop in the buildings, Kwik Kopy Printing–which eventually became Party and Paper — making her the third-generation to operate a business in her grandfather’s buildings.
The hotels are not the first old buildings in Columbus Chain and Howard have restored. Chain owns Renovations of Mississippi Inc., and Howard has restored downtown buildings, including 208 Fifth St. S., just down the street from the hotels. Howard and Chain previously told The Dispatch they want to restore The New Stone Hotel and The Arcade Hotel to an early 20th century look.
View the full set of plans submitted for the Stone Hotel project
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