Plans push ahead for transition from Federal Building into downtown luxury hotel

Image by Flickr user cmorran123 The abandoned Rivers Federal Building appears in the top left-hand corner

Update April 12: The Charleston Regional Business Journal reported today that plans to transformation Meeting Street's Mendel Rivers Federal Building into the 155-room luxury Hotel Dewberry are back in motion.

Here's the update, which approximates completion by fall of 2013.

Update April 11: Plans have been set back in motion and it looks as though the Mendel Rivers Federal Building on Meeting Street is on its way to becoming one of Charleston's newest luxury hotels.

The Post and Courier reports that last week, Dewberry Capital got the go-ahead from the city's Board of Zoning Appeals to include 41 additional rooms to their construction plans. That bumps the total number of guest rooms to 161.

For more, here's the link to The Post and Courier's brief.

Update January 27: As you may well have noticed, the vacant Mendel Rivers Federal Building is still vacant and still an eyesore in downtown Charleston.

However, the idea of turning the building into a hotel was taken up again during a Wednesday night Board of Architectural Review meeting. The idea to whitewash the entire building and add first floor awnings were shot down.

The next step in the process will be preliminary approval of building plans from the architects  with Gibson Guess Architects. The next meeting is scheduled for February 9th.

The Post and Courier has the report.

First reporting: After falling in with the great downtown cool off, it looks like the old Mendel Rivers Federal Building near Marion Square may soon be getting its long-overdue rebirth.

Go get the scoop at the Charleston City Paper.

The building is at 334 Meeting Street in downtown Charleston.

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