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P erhaps you've noticed the dramatic
slate-colored construction at the
corner of College Avenue and Strong
Street, or have caught some of the
press surrounding "the green hotel." The
Hotel Indigo, set to open at the end of
August, is posed to attract attention both for
its presentation of art and music and for its
environmentally conscious construction and
design. An owner, Rick Fine, explains that his
Atlanta-based development company, Rialto
Property Partners, selected this town for a
destination boutique hotel because "there was
the opportunity to develop a substantial piece
of property located in downtown that we felt
could make a lasting impact on the city of
Athens... and create something unique while
having a positive impact on all stakeholders in
the project—the community which it serves,
the investors who take the risk, and the envi
ronment in which it exists."
While it's not possible to foresee its com
mercial reception yet, it seems sure that
the new hotel will expand the definition of
"downtown" northward and showcase cutting-
edge conservation techniques. How will the
operation of the Hotel Indigo mesh with the
distinctive building to affect the community?
Physically, the hotel incorporates elements
of existing Athens into the new construction.
The Hotel Indigo is a worldwide branded chain
within the InterContinental Hotels Group,
which owns the chain along with Holiday Inn,
Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza and other
hotel brands. Indigo hotels don't share a com
mon layout; each reflects its environs. When
bringing the brand to. Athens, the developers
knew that building green was "the right thing
to do," according to Rialto partner and hotel
owner Barry Rutherford. Doing so expressed
a belief in sustainable business practices and
captured the "Athens ethos".of environmental
consciousness, he says. Rialto and its develop
ment partner, Melaver, Inc., set their sights
on achieving LEED Gold status from the U.S.
Green Building Council, an internationally
recognized standard shared by only two other
hotels in the country. LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) certifica-'
tion is determined by points awarded within
categories of construction and design, and
in many areas, the points awarded for local
impact and preservation exceeded the goal.
The lot itself had been vacant since a
Clarke County School District building there
was demolished in 2005. Building on the site
conserves land, should revitalize a formerly
stagnant area, and puts a new downtown
employer and entertainment option on the bus
line and within walking distance for many. The
site has been used to best advantage. The old
building's foundation was recycled to become
crushed aggregate for the new foundation, the
former granite wall along College Avenue has
become part of the hotel's outer wall, and a
felled tree has been repurposed for outdoor
benches. The building itself is oriented to
reduce heat gain from the sun, and its reflec
tive metal roof further reduces energy needs.
While you can't get much more local than
using on-site gleanings, much of the other
materials used are extremely local, from an
Athens barn recycled into wood decor to the
purchase of all concrete from a vendor less
than 50 miles away. So far as possible, the
hotel's construction used materials originating
from within 500 miles of the site.
Although many of the high-tech conserva
tion features aren't visible from the street,
others are quite evident. In some cases it's
what you don't see that's the point: though
both the lot and the law allow for more park
ing spaces, the developers have paved only
what is needed. The interlocking paving and
deck material was chosen both for its light
color, which reduces "heat island" effect, and
its ability to absorb stormwater and disperse
it into the ground below. Unlike typical exter
nal units, the state-of the-art heating and air
conditioning system isn't apparent street-side.
This system is engineered to promote effi
ciency; any condensate lost is reclaimed by
an attractive cistern on the grounds. External
materials, including filtered glass, also save
energy that would otherwise be lost trying to
cool the building.
Inside, features from large to small capture
or conserve energy. Regenerative elevators
harvest energy generated from braking and
return it to the hotel's electrical grid. The
key card, a seemingly insignificant part of a
stay, is put to work as a switch to turn on the
power to a room. Since the guest takes his •
key with him when he leaves, electricity isn't
wasted to light an empty room.
For the developers, it's not enough to be
just green. Everyone involved in bringing the
hotel to Athens is earnest about its being
"transformative" for the community; Fine is
moved by the "heart and soul" invested by
his team. A truism of such infill construction
is that new businesses attract other busi
nesses to their area, thus bringing the whole
neighborhood up to a higher value than
previously enjoyed. But Hotel Indigo's loca
tion creates the most obvious juxtaposition
in income disparities seen thus far in Athens,
a town not short in such contrasts. Here, an
upscale leisure destination (for locals as well
as guests) is in close proximity to an often-
troubled housing complex: its College Avenue
side, replete with windows, faces Bethel
Midtown Village. Will this circumstance make
either side of the street uncomfortable? Fine
says neither he nor any of the other partners
considered this factor at all. Whether by coin
cidence or intention, the layout of Indigo's
floors prevent direct window views from one
side of the street to the other. The ground
floor, the hub of entertainment and dining, is
sunken eight feet or so. The first floor, which
features retail, gallery and conference space,
rises above street level. A line of trees will
provide shade for the windows and sidewalk
along College Avenue.
The hotel's operation will feature locals at
many levels. Most important to downtown will
be its creation of new jobs. Robert Jahn, Hotel
Indigo's general manager, has been work
ing with Athens-Clarke County's Community
Economic Development Coordinator, Catherine
Hogue, and with Simisola Johnson of the
Georgia Department of Labor, to recruit Athens
residents.
"We hope to be a bright spot in the com
munity with regards to offering employment
opportunities rather than layoffs," Jahn says.
Employees educated about the hotel and its
goals will be trained in new recycling, waste
management and cleaning techniques.
The decor and entertainment offerings (see
sidebar) stand out from the usual branding
of Athens-area attractions. Says Rutherford,
"Both Rick and I, along with others on our
team, felt that UGA Dawgs had been over
done in Athens, so we wanted to pay tribute
to the other key focal points and heritage
of Athens—art and music." These areas will
embrace some local talent. The hotel also
contains a spacious art gallery, the new home
of Athens' Mercury Art Works. The new gallery
space will largely be filled by Mercury's art
ists, many of whom are local to Athens. While
the hotel engaged a New Yorker for interior
design, Fine and Rutherford hired Mercury to
"do the walls." And all pictures and photo
murals are the work of three Georgia artists,
including Athens photographer Rinne Allen.
Deb Chasteen
TUNING IN TO ATHENS
What to Expect Musically at Hotel Indigo?
hotel, a plan not too dissimilar from that
of the Melting Point/ Foundry Park Inn
complex a few blocks to the east.
Indigo is looking to break new ground
in its performance space, putting to work
UGA students studying the music industry
and giving them an opportunity to dive
into the biz firsthand. "The music room
there is going to be something that'll draw
people to the place, but it’s not going to
be the sort of thing that'll exist on its
own," says Bruce Burch, director of the
Music Business Program in UGA's Terry
Coliege of Business. "We'll be both booking
and promoting it as more of a listening-
room type club, more along the lines of
the Bluebird Cafe .[in Nashville]. It’ll fit
between 125 people isitting] to almost
300 standing." '
Says Hibler, "It's a win-win for both of
us, because we want the listening lounge
to serve as a live lab for music business
students to learn the skills they need, but
it also helps us to have that diversity of
talent coming to the room and'also having
a relationship with the university."
Burch adds that the music room can
occupy its otyn niche in town, as it won't
be a make-or-break source of income for
Indigo. "We don't look at it as competitive
with other venues," he says. "Hopefully, it'll
complement the rest of the things in town.
Hopefully, instead of [people] coming for
the football, this will make Athens a music
tourism destination." [Chris Hassiotis]
While recent large developments in
downtown Athens have tried (and generally
fumbled) to corner the football-fan market,
the 130-room, five-story Hotel Indigo is
taking a different approach by incorporat
ing live music and local art into its day-
to-day operations. When Athens' newest
dowmtown hotel opens its doors in late
August, Hotel Indigo will be the latest irf a
franchise of mid-size hotels aiming for the
boutique market.
A music museum—or at least rotating
exhibits and memorabilia—may be part of
the hotel's design, and a partnership with
the University of Georgia’s Music Business
Program will book and promote live shows
at an in-house venue called the Riaito
Room.
"We're not trying to add another venue
to the Athens-landscape as much as we
are trying to create a place to offer music
events... We're trying to train the football-
goers to appreciate that side of Athens,
checking out the music," says Amy Hibler,
marketing director for Rialto Property
Partners, thetiotel's developers. The first
definite plans to entice the red-and-black
crowd into the hotel include a Friday-night
music series during football season, with
more mainstream acts like Shawn Mullins
and Christopher Cross hitting town. Hibler
says the company hopes to create a "music
destination" boutique, with people coming
to see performances, eating dinner in the
Rialto Room and staying the night at the
8 FLAGPOLE.COM • JULY 22, 2009
BENM0STYN