Greenville landmark site to become boutique hotel

The home of one of Greenville’s first car dealerships received Local Landmark designation from the city ahead of plans to convert the space into a 17-room hotel with a restaurant, rooftop bar and private basement speakeasy.

The city’s Historic Review Board approved the downtown property at 101 College St., built in 1922, and the plans to convert the building into a boutique hotel.

The property was recently home to Café and Then Some.

“We want to be really good stewards of the history in that building,” developer Jason Boehm of Aileron Management said in a news release.

The 101 College building was originally home to the Eugene F. Bates Motor Co. showroom and service facility. Bates was an entrepreneur who helped guide Greenville from horse-drawn travel into the automobile era, according to the news release. City planning staff highlighted that many of the building’s original architectural elements remain intact — including the brickwork, first-floor garage bay opening, the elevator shaft and pulley system. The building later housed the McDuffie-Parker Furniture Co. and Lenny’s Sandwiches before Café and Then Some took occupancy.

“We had uncovered a lot of the history, and we are making efforts to not only preserve what’s there but also to enhance it and make it something special for Greenville,” Boehm said in the release.

Historic Review Board members also approved a preliminary certification for special tax assessment for rehabilitated historic properties. The certification would freeze the building’s property taxes at its pre-rehabilitated value of $3 million for 10 years.

“We are investing a lot of dollars to make this a really special asset and addition to the fabric of Greenville,” Boehm said. “Those programs are in place to encourage situations like this, where there is a historic building that may need a change in use.”