A 16-story hotel is proposed to be built next to Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall with a connection to PATH400.
The Hyatt Centric hotel would be built on a 1-acre site on the southeast edge of the mall near the George C. Bynum Jr. Pedestrian Bridge, which connects PATH400, a multiuse trail, over Ga. 400.
The hotel would have 221 rooms, a rooftop restaurant and outdoor dining, which would “activate” that part of PATH400, a planning document said. The rooftop restaurant would feature “360-degree views of Buckhead and Downtown.” The hotel would also have a fitness center and pool.
To improve connectivity to PATH400, 10-foot sidewalks be added to continue the width of the path, architects with Cooper Carry and Kimley-Horn said at the May 1 Special Public Interest District 12 meeting. Bike lockers and 42 racks will be provided for people who use the path to get to the hotel and mall.
Livable Buckhead Executive Director Denise Starling said she believed the connection to PATH400 could be better by making the part of the hotel it would pass by more active. Starling oversees the path’s construction and operation.
The hotel is proposed for the same site where the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) was planned to go before the idea fell through last year. The site is also next to a possible new Ga. 400 interchange being studied for feasibility.
Sally Silver, an SPI-12 board member who is also Councilmember Howard Shook’s policy analyst, recommended the hotel install one of the city’s Relay Bike Share stations and furnish their own rentable bicycles for PATH400 users.
Starling also recommended a parking place on site for electric scooters, like Bird and Lime.
The hotel will not add any vehicle parking and will use existing decks at other properties.
