Connally Building

The Connally Building is a historic property at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Alabama Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, adjacent to the Underground Atlanta retail and entertainment complex. Although it is treated here as a named property rather than a conventional consumer brand, the building has had a changing commercial identity through successive hotel operations and names. The building was designed by architect William Lee Stoddart and completed in 1916. It replaced an earlier Connally Building that had occupied the site. The original structure was a six-story office building characterized in part by a terra-cotta façade, reflecting the commercial architecture used in Atlanta during the early twentieth century. Its location placed it within the city’s central business district and near major downtown retail and transportation activity. The property underwent extensive redevelopment in 1990. Eleven additional stories were added, and the building was converted from an office structure into a hotel. This intervention substantially changed its appearance and scale. According to the referenced architectural history, the lower-story terra-cotta façade is the principal surviving visual element associated with the original building, while much of the rest of the structure bears little resemblance to the 1916 design. Following the conversion, the property operated under several hotel identities, including Howard Johnson Plaza Suites, University Place at Underground, and The Suite Hotel at the Underground. It most recently became associated with the Fairfield Inn & Suites name. These successive operating names illustrate the building’s transition from an early office property into a hospitality asset serving visitors to downtown Atlanta and the nearby Underground Atlanta complex. The Connally Building’s significance rests primarily on its architectural and urban history rather than on a standalone branded product portfolio. It represents the reuse and vertical expansion of an older downtown commercial building, while also illustrating the changing role of central Atlanta properties from traditional offices to visitor-oriented lodging. Publicly available reference material does not establish the current owner, hotel operator, exact present operating status, or detailed financial history.

The Connally Building occupies a prominent downtown Atlanta site at 54 Peachtree Street, on the corner of Alabama Street and beside Underground Atlanta. The site previously contained an earlier Connally Building. The present building was designed by William Lee Stoddart, an architect associated with important commercial and institutional work in the southeastern United States, and was completed in 1916. In its original form, the building was a six-story office property with a terra-cotta façade. Its design belonged to the early twentieth-century development of Atlanta’s central business district, when office buildings and commercial blocks were concentrated around Peachtree Street and the adjacent downtown streets. The building’s location gave it a direct relationship with the retail, civic, and transportation functions of central Atlanta. The property later underwent a major redevelopment completed in 1990. Eleven stories were added, changing the building’s scale and substantially altering its architectural appearance. At the same time, the former office building was converted for hotel use. The redevelopment retained terra-cotta elements on the lower stories, but the structure as a whole no longer closely resembles the original 1916 design. The project therefore combined historic remnants with a large vertical addition and a new hospitality use. After conversion, the property operated under multiple hotel names. These included Howard Johnson Plaza Suites, University Place at Underground, and The Suite Hotel at the Underground. The names reflected both changing hotel affiliations and the property’s proximity to Underground Atlanta. The building most recently became associated with Fairfield Inn & Suites, although the supplied reference material does not provide a current operator, ownership record, or confirmation of the property’s latest status. The building’s historical importance is consequently tied to several layers of urban change: the replacement of an earlier structure, the construction of a 1916 office building, the preservation of limited terra-cotta elements, and the 1990 expansion and conversion into a hotel. It is an example of adaptive reuse in a central business district, where an older commercial building was retained in part while being reshaped for contemporary lodging demand. Available sources do not document a complete chain of ownership, detailed renovation costs, or the precise dates of each hotel-name transition.

• 1990

  Major expansion and hotel conversion

  [1]Connally Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  Eleven stories were added and the office property was converted into a hotel, substantially changing its appearance and use.

• 1916

  Present Connally Building completed

  [1]Connally Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  William Lee Stoddart’s six-story office building was completed at 54 Peachtree Street, replacing an earlier Connally Building on the site.

• Successive hotel identities

  [1]Connally Buildingen.wikipedia.org

  The property operated under the names Howard Johnson Plaza Suites, University Place at Underground, and The Suite Hotel at the Underground before later becoming associated with Fairfield Inn & Suites.

A downtown Atlanta historic property whose identity is rooted in architectural heritage, adaptive reuse, and hotel accommodation near Underground Atlanta.

• Historic commercial and hospitality property · 1916

  Connally Building

  The principal property is a downtown Atlanta building completed in 1916 as a six-story office structure. It was designed by William Lee Stoddart and originally featured a terra-cotta façade. Extensive later redevelopment added eleven stories and transformed the building into a hotel, leaving the lower-story terra-cotta treatment as the most recognizable surviving element of the original design.

• Hospitality · 1990

  Hotel operations

  Following the 1990 redevelopment, the property provided hotel accommodation under several names, including Howard Johnson Plaza Suites, University Place at Underground, The Suite Hotel at the Underground, and later Fairfield Inn & Suites. The supplied references do not specify the current room inventory, operator, amenities, or operating status.

• 1990

  Conversion from offices to hotel useStrategy

  Background

  The six-story office building had undergone major changes in the downtown Atlanta property market and was redeveloped beside the Underground Atlanta complex.

  Action taken

  Eleven stories were added and the building was converted into a hotel, while portions of the original lower-story terra-cotta façade were retained.

  Aftermath

  The property entered a succession of hotel operations and names, including Howard Johnson Plaza Suites, University Place at Underground, The Suite Hotel at the Underground, and Fairfield Inn & Suites.

  Source

1. 1Connally Buildingen.wikipedia.org