The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) has proposed a 20-story mixed-use “student union” tower along Spring Street in Midtown as part of its ongoing campus expansion plan.
The project would include accommodations for 973 students; a dining hall and food market; a 700-seat 33,000-square-foot auditorium; 35,000 square feet of academic space and a 5,500-square-foot retail store. An amenity space on the roof would include a pool and open air courtyard bordered on three sides by the “U”-shaped building. The site is located on the west side of Spring Street immediately south of the Buford Spring-Connector.
An eight-story connected parking deck would rise on the southern portion of the site with 232 parking spaces.
SCAD presented the plan at the Nov. 12 meeting of the Midtown Development Review Committee. The DRC’s feedback focused mainly on the issue of vehicular access, recommending a single curb cut for access to the parking deck and for service deliveries. DRC members said multiple curb cuts are not permitted by code and would undermine the safety and functionality of the protected bike-lane that will be installed on Spring Street in the future.
The DRC also requested a more welcoming pedestrian experience along the Spring Street with better access to the campus store and box office, as well as improving the parking deck screening and lighting.
This would be SCAD’s second tower, having recently opened a 14-story student residential building capped by an event space across from Atlantic Station.
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