Savannah is investing $23.5M to renovate the historic Thomas Gamble Building for city offices, aiming to complete the project by 2027. In addition, the council approved funds for a new police precinct and office expansion, with discussions ongoing for additional investments in the Enmarket Arena parking lot project.
Green Line Architecture render
A render of the proposed Thomas Gamble Building, Savannah, Ga.
City officials in Savannah, Ga. are spending a pretty penny to renovate the historic Thomas Gamble Building on Bay Street in the historic downtown area.
The Savannah City Council recently approved an approximately $23.5 million contract to upgrade the building, which sits just across the street from the south side of City Hall, according to WTOC-TV in Savannah.
The Thomas Gamble Building was built in 1877 before being purchased by the city for $25,000 in 1942. Since then, it has been home to several different city offices, but it currently sits vacant and needs major improvements.
"It has to be brought up to current codes and safety standards," Cristy Lawrence, the city's senior director of capital projects management, told WTOC-TV.
She said the two biggest undertakings will be the addition of a new staircase and rebuilding the elevator shaft.
"The fact that the elevator has to be replaced and the elevator shaft has to be enlarged is huge," Lawrence said.
The multi-million-dollar project is quite an about-face for Savannah officials considering they were thinking about selling the Thomas Gamble Building for around $7 million in 2019. Lawrence said that the deal fell through during the pandemic, and since then costs have continued to rise.
"Even though the price tag is high for a renovation of a historic building, to build a new facility of this size would probably cost more than double ... not even including land costs," she said.
About $15 million for the renovation project will be pulled from Savannah's general fund, with the remainder set to come from what the city received after selling other municipally-owned properties.
The plan, Lawrence said, is to bring staff offices for 80 city employees back to the Gamble building to have them closer to City Hall.
"Just that proximity will be so much more efficient than, say, if staff were housed across town and had to come to City Hall often for meetings," she said.
Once construction begins, Lawrence told WTOC-TV it will take about 18 to 24 months to complete. The city is hoping to reopen the building in 2027.
Savannah City Council OKs Funds for Other Municipal Projects
The budget for the Thomas Gamble Building renovations was not the only item approved by the Savannah City Council at its May 8, 2025, meeting.
Council members also decided on a $1.4 million increase to its annual architectural design contract with Cogdell Mendrala Architects in Savannah to include design services for the city's planned Northwest Police Precinct, to be located at the Floyd Adams Jr. Administrative Complex site.
The construction will take place next to the city's new code compliance building off Interchange Drive, the Savannah Morning News reported.
The West Savannah site was chosen after a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a construction manager was issued on April 15, 2025, initially listing a location off Louisville Road as the precinct's site; on May 5, however, an addendum was added to the RFP listing the new site for the police precinct.
Savannah City Manager Jay Melder said further investigation of the Louisville Road location discovered that a driveway to the site would be located in a 500-year floodplain, thus making the property unsuitable for a public safety facility.
He told the Morning News that Savannah officials had been assessing multiple sites despite the initial RFP stating the Louisville Road location, adding RFPs are "not decisions, they are requests."
"The Adams Complex was also one of our top sites … because of its proximity to the interchange there and the ability to quickly mobilize out to the west side of the community, [which] the Northwest precinct also serves," Melder said.
Savannah council member Bernetta Lanier, representing District 1, had been staunchly opposed to the Louisville Road site for a police precinct, preferring that site be used for additional housing in the neighborhood.
At the May 8, 2025, meeting, she said the Adams Complex location was supported by the Carver Village neighborhood, leading her to support the updated design contract.
In addition, the city council gave its stamp of approval to another $3.2 million contract to design other expanded offices at the Adams Complex. The agenda item calls for a new building with 30,000 sq. ft. per floor, the Morning News noted.
City Council to Revisit Budget for Enmarket Arena Parking Lot
One item that drew scrutiny in the run up to the council meeting in early May 2025 was budget amendments to contribute an additional $14 million to the Enmarket Arena parking lot project. Lanier, along with District 4 Alderman Nick Palumbo, raised concerns about the project in advance of the session.
Palumbo moved that council continue the item to hold a future workshop session on the topic due to the significant cost increases associated with the proposed budget amendments. As a result, the council voted unanimously to postpone discussion to a later date.
"We have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that these public dollars that we're entrusted with are spent wisely and have a full, thorough analysis of the site and remediation standards that do exist there," he said.
Supporters such as Savannah Mayor Van Johnson believe the additional investments are needed to complete environmental remediation of the site, which is adjacent to Enmarket Arena near the International Paper plant. The property has historically been zoned industrial, according to the Morning News, and, over time, the soil became contaminated.
Even though Johnson supported the continuance, he expects the council's responsibilities for remediating the site to remain.
"The reality is the recommendation won't change and our legal obligation as it relates to the lease will not change," he said.
When the site is used as a parking lot, Johnson added, the City of Savannah will recoup some of these expenses through parking fees. Current projections have the city netting $1 million to $1.4 million from the lot upon completion, Melder said, which would likely pay off the expenses in about 15 to 20 years.
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