It’ll be a swell luxury hotel, if it ever gets built.
The Grand Bohemian, a 275-room, four-star luxury hotel, has been on hold since before 2009. It’s supposed to be located on the east side of Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, north of Mount Vernon Highway and south of Abernathy Road in Sandy Springs.
The developers, Kessler Grand Bohemian Atlanta LLC, received a land disturbance permit and were approved for financial incentives from the city of Sandy Springs. What the developers lacked, however, was financing for the $100 million project.
Sandy Springs City Council has approved six extensions of Kessler’s land disturbance permit for the hotel, most recently at its Sept. 3 meeting.
City officials and the developer’s attorney, Joe Foltz, both sounded optimistic the project would eventually find backers.
“We have submitted letters from two of our lead construction lenders,” Foltz told City Council. “This is not a reflection on Sandy Springs. What we’re seeing is a coming back of the luxury segment of construction lending.”
City Council has approved each extension without complaint, and usually with some well-wishes.
“We had heard rumors that the Bohemian was going away,” Councilman Tibby DeJulio said before voting to approve the recent extension. “I’m glad that’s not the case.”
City Councilman Gabriel Sterling said on Sept. 17 that while smaller projects have had an easier time finding banks willing to support them, the Grand Bohemian’s size has kept it on the drawing board. He said Sandy Springs and the Perimeter need a luxury hotel like the one Kessler wants to build.
Until the financing becomes available, City Council looks likely to continue giving Kessler an opportunity to deliver.
“The project itself is going to be a spectacular project for Sandy Springs and the Perimeter area,” Sterling said.