The developer behind a proposal to build a hotel at the corner of Livingston and City Park avenues is hoping a new design can help the project gain approval from the German Village Commission.

The new design, from local firm Moody Nolan, features a mix of brick, stainless steel, metal tile, glass and wood. The five-story hotel would hold 135 rooms over a 139-space basement parking garage, and would feature several green roofs as well as a plant-covered wall.

Two existing buildings at 485-489 City Park Ave. would be renovated and incorporated into the project as restaurant and meeting space. The new hotel would sit on land that currently holds a surface parking lot and a one-story office building (at 31-35 E. Livingston Ave.), which would be demolished.

A plan to build a hotel on the site, which sits at the northwest corner of German Village, was first proposed in March of 2018. An updated design was brought before the commission in May of that year, calling for a six-story building with 156 rooms and an underground garage with space for 148 cars.

The latest plan will be presented to the German Village Commission on October 1, but already has had a hearing in front of the community. Michael Casey, the project’s developer, hosted a community meeting on September 12 to present the new design and get feedback from neighbors and other interested stakeholders.

The project received a generally frosty reception from the attendees of the meeting, with many bringing up concerns about the size of the building and its potential impact on the neighborhood.

The building would top out at 62 feet, which – as the developer and architect both pointed out at the meeting – is the same height as Schwartz Castle, the quirky 19th-century building that stands about a block away from the proposed hotel, at 492 S. Third St.

For more information on the German Village Commission, visit www.columbus.gov.

The proposed hotel, to be called The McGown, as seen from the corner of Livingston and Pearl.

From the corner of Livingston and City Park.

The Pearl Street side of the building.