A familiar site on Broad Street for half a century, the Ramada Plaza is about to be rebranded and transformed into Augusta’s newest four-star hotel.
Matt Brendle, owner of the hotel investment company Breakwater, said a partnership with current owner Bonnie Ruben has given rise to major change.
“My company has teamed up with the current owner and we’re going to restore the property to its former glory and create something really special for Augusta,” Brendle said.
Terms of the partnership have not been disclosed, but with it will come a new brand for the hotel, he said. It has been a Ramada for 30 years.
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“We have a near-final deal with a more premium brand that will come into that property,” he said.
Brendle said he met owner Ruben nearly six years ago while first exploring the Augusta market.
“I met Bonnie Ruben when I walked into the Ramada for the first time and said, wow, this is a true diamond in the rough,” he said.
The pair will now “tag team” on the project, with Breakwater leading the renovation and rebranding of the 640 Broad St. hotel.
“We both had a very similar vision of what we both wanted for the property,” Brendle said.
The interior will be renovated top to bottom, and several of its existing 200 rooms will be converted to suites, which are in greater demand, he said. The hotel’s meeting and restaurant facilities will be expanded and greatly enhanced, he said.
“We’re going to really take it to the next level and create something that doesn’t exist currently on Broad Street,” he said.
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The exterior will be sharpened with colors and extensive landscaping added but the hotel’s exterior design will remain basically the same, Brendle said.
“It is designed by one of the world’s most famous architects. It would be a shame to do any sort of major modifications to I.M. Pei’s intent for the building,” he said.
Pei designed the hotel, Augusta’s civic center, the Lamar Building penthouse, Broad Street median features and other downtown landmarks during a 1970s building push intended to save downtown amid suburban growth.
The 12-story hotel opened as “The Executive House Hotel” and later was affiliated with the Hilton and Landmark brands. Ruben acquired the property in a 1988 bank sale. It became a Ramada, now the Ramada by Wyndham Augusta Downtown Hotel, in 1995.
As downtown revitalization spreads through the lower Broad Street blocks, Brendle said the time is ripe for the converted hotel.
“What Augusta lacks in a lot of ways is a premier, full-service hotel with a front door on Broad Street. That’s what we’re here to deliver,” he said.
Brendle compared the level of effort going into the hotel to a project he worked on in his Charleston hometown, the Emeline Hotel.
The design phase of the Augusta hotel is just getting started, but Brendle said he hopes to have details such as its new brand and name finalized in the next few months. Ideally the partners will reopen the hotel to guests in about 18-24 months, he said.
