New Lawrenceville hotel opens after 9 year project

Welcome back, 839. Your time checking out downtown Lawrenceville just got easier thanks to the addition of the area's first upscale boutique hotel. We love a boutique hotel. The Lawrence Hotel features 120 guest rooms and suites and a pair of new dining concepts. And best of all, it's just steps away from the town's historic square. Good news, Paul Millican is live in Lawrenceville this morning. Paul, big deal for that community. And Lawrenceville, they were ahead of the curve on becoming like a cool downtown out in the suburbs. They were way ahead of the curve on that. Big time. Yeah, we agree on something. Buck Lanford, we agree on Lawrenceville. It is a great downtown area. I know, now you're going to change all that. I know, and by the way, our old co-worker, Randy Travis, if you're watching Randy, come see me here at the Lawrence Hotel right now. We're here in your town, Lawrenceville. I'll share my breakfast with you a little bit later. We are thrilled to be here at the Lawrence Hotel. This has been years in the making. It is a really big deal for this community. And spoiler alert, it is beautiful inside. So, Greg Windy, I am so happy to be here with you this morning. How are you, my friend? Absolutely thrilled to be here. Yeah, well, am I correct in that? It's been a long time coming for this community, right? Yeah, this is really a passion project. This really, from conception to actually building the property, was almost nine years. Yeah, well, COVID happened in the middle of that, right? COVID happened. We started the planning in 2017. We got the building plans approved and whatnot and started the building of the property. The parking deck, that was finished in 2020. So COVID hit, hibernated for five years, so all said and done. We opened about six weeks ago or so. We're just absolutely thrilled to be here. This has been a lot of work with a lot of people, and the city have been great. Oh, yeah, the city, I know, is thrilled about this. The city manager was just walking through a little bit earlier. So why Lawrenceville? I mean, why is this a community and an area that you targeted at North Point Hospitality Management and Development? I think we saw this early on. You know, really the rebirth of small-town America is happening now. And eight years ago, nine years ago, this was just a lot. We had a cemetery. We had some housing behind us. We had a post office. And everyone said, what the heck are you thinking? Well, it's a gem market, a government education market, a medical market. So it is somewhat recession-proof. And we felt like the rebirth of this city was happening already. We just wanted to anchor it with a hotel and something that for generations on generations on generations, people could be really proud of. Yeah, a hotel for visitors, but also for people in the community already. For example, like you can come hang out. This is the new living room, right? Right, right. This is the Lawrenceville's living room. Yeah, yeah. And a lot of thought and time and effort went into this. Hats off to our designer, Sim Patrick. We spent an awful lot of time really trying to write the story of the history of the property. Right, right. So what you're seeing is an industrial design. You'll see the floors are polished concrete. They have some blemishes on them, and that's by intent. Okay. You know, we want it to look authentic. and it's a comforting area in terms of just it's not a big convention hotel and it's designed that way. It's only 120 rooms. We've got 6,000 square foot of meeting space. Our restaurant seating is about 150 people and outdoor seating which will finish up in Old Nick's in about two or three weeks and that's going to be 60 to 80 people all weather outdoor. Yeah well you and mentioned before I mean everything here is very intentional in in celebrating and honoring the history of So, for example, Bellfire, the restaurant, and Old Nick's, which is coming soon, those names mean something, right? They sure do. We did a deep dive with the Mighty Eighth, who is a local vendor here, to help with our branding. So we looked at the history of the property. We looked at the history of Lawrenceville. And Bellfire pays homage to the old county courthouse where the bell still rings. That bell tower, yeah. Every hour on the hour since roughly 1908. So it's pretty cool. Yeah, that's very cool. And you can see it from your rooms, which is pretty neat. Oh, that's a great view. So we paid homage to that. And then the old fire station. So that was really important to us to kind of tell that story about the history of this hotel. And then Old Nick's. Who was Old Nick? Old Nick, it's kind of interesting. I didn't think I would ever name a bar Old Nick's. But Old Nick was a town mascot. He was a mule. And a lot of the commerce and trade occurred in Honest Alley adjacent to the hotel here. And it just embodies hard work and, you know, just stick-to-it-ness and really how commerce and trade was done. So all goods and services came through on mules. On mules, yeah. We're actually better to use in horses because they live longer, they ate less, and they could stay in the heat. And if they eat less, I presume you drink more. There you go. And hence, you're going to be doing a lot of drinking at Old Nick's. And then mention, too, so behind the front desk, you've got this interesting art piece, which to me kind of looks like shoes. What does that point to? Yeah, this is paying homage to the Genesco shoe factory, which prior to that was the Lawrenceville Cotton Mill. So that actually burnt down. They rebuilt it. And actually, during the Civil War, the Union soldiers came in and they burnt that down. Wow, wow. So, interesting enough, it was rebuilt and then refurbed as the Genesco Shoe Factory in the 1930s. And then eventually it lived a good long life up until the 70s, and it was shuttered. And so we're just kind of rebirthing this site and this story. Yeah, I love that you're honoring that legacy and moving Lawrenceville into the future. Now, look, this is a hotel, my friend, which means the rooms need to be top-notch. What do you say in the next hour? Or can I go jump on a bed, throw on a robe? Can I try out a room? Oh, yeah, yeah. The rooms are fabulous. We spend a lot of time. The Hilton beds are amazing. We put a lot of thought and attention into the rooms. And as an example, the ceiling heights are nine foot, not eight, six or so. Which means a lot for a very tall person like I am, right? Absolutely. I don't like the way he just crouched to make fun of me. How's the weather down there? So we have floor-to-ceiling windows, which are really, really awesome. So it really gives a panoramic view of the city or what your sight line is. We put a lot of thought and attention into the linen, our towels, our shower heads, our flooring. Everything is by intent, and everything is custom, by the way. Can't wait. Well, you'll see it coming up in the next hour on Good Day Atlanta. So wait, a ceiling that high means you can have, like, two Alex Whitlers, like an Alex Whitler standing on another Alex Whitler. Are you making fun of her height, really? And you still wouldn't hit the ceiling. That's right. Are you going to make fun of Alex's height? I can do it to somebody. Okay, did you see how I was just disrespected by Greg Whitey? I mean, did you see that? How was the weather down there? Way down there, Paul. You're saying it rolls downhill. Is that what you're saying? So to speak. That's right. That's right. Hey, listen, Lawrenceville has got great restaurants, cool places to hang out, a cool live theater, and now a hotel. It is a happening place, Lawrenceville, GA. You have to get out there. And Buck, by the way, Slider is coming to Old Nick's right out there when it's done. So maybe Burgers with Buck will be stopping at the Lawrence. Is that a tip from Paul? Look at the teamwork happening live on V-Day. It is. Friday. We're heading into a nice weekend. Don't get used to it. Do not get used to it. Thanks, Paul. The Lawrence Hotel is located at 120 East Krogan Street. That's in Lawrenceville. For more information on the hotel, follow the links on our website, fox5atlanta.com. Just look for the story under the Good Day section.