COVINGTON, Ga. — Another hotel chain is headed to the city of Covington, this time for travelers looking to stay a while.
According to documents provided by the city, a Residence Inn by Marriott will soon be located at 11109 Alcovy Road on a 7.19 acre site. The hotel will house 123 rooms and stand six floors high. Some of the amenities include an outdoor sports surface (putting green), an outdoor patio and a swimming pool.
The 7.19 acre lot will be divided to make room for a second hotel — “likely a Courtyard,” according to the city’s documents.
Architect Robert W. Ponder, of Ponder and Ponder, applied for a variance from the city of Covington that will be heard by the Covington Board of Adjustments and Appeals on Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. The property is owned by Cumming Investments Inc., based in Duluth, Georgia.
The variances requested include relief from the required security fencing and the parking lot areas of the hotel, which will have 159 spaces. Because the new development is being built in an area without a significant history of crimes against automobiles, the applicant suggested it would be an “unnecessary hardship” for the owner the provide the required fencing. The applicant also said Marriott does not allow security fencing around their hotels unless there is a “demonstrated need.” In order to obtain a national franchise for the property, the owner must follow those design standards, the applicant said.
Other variances request to “allow 36 parking stalls to be built for the future second hotel; delineate the third floor with anything more than windows; orient the primary facade towards ingress/egress of building and not toward Town Center Boulevard; relief from the required 10-foot step back in the face of the hotel above the 50-foot point in the height of the building; relief from required 65% fenestration on the facade of the building; allow a stairwell to extend three feet above the parapet; relief from the required 10% minimum parking stalls for compact cars; relief from required designated loading space; permit curb cut on Town Center Boulevard to remain wider than allowed; and relief from required wheel bumpers at parking stalls abutting landscape strips.”
Ponder said the design team was working as quickly as possible to get construction started “before the end of the year.” The goal is to begin construction and get ahead of the winter months with the “dirt work,” he said.
Residence Inn by Marriott is a hotel brand marketed toward visitors seeking an extended stay. The nearest Residence Inn can be found in McDonough; there are more than 20 locations across the state.
