Work well underway on $25 million renovation of old hotel in downtown Lynchburg

Work is well underway on a $25 million renovation of The Virginian Hotel in downtown Lynchburg.  Demolition is complete in some areas and framing has begun. When the hotel opens in 2017, it will be among an elite group of  about 70 boutique hotels under Curio — a collection by Hilton, and the first in the state under that brand.

According to Richmond-based Baskervill, which is doing the interior design on the project, partners Blair Godsey and George Stanley have teamed up to renovate the property, which was most recently used as apartments for low-income housing.  The hotel, at 712 Church St., opened originally in 1913. It closed in late 2014 after the subsidized housing apartment program suffered financial problems.

The renovation’s interior design will play on the property’s name and the state’s history, with references to leather, tobacco and brick. There will be a lounge and rooftop bar with steel mirrors reflecting Virginia’s once booming steel industry.  Baskervill said it plans to repurpose antique light fixtures and furniture.

Scheduled for opening in early 2017, the hotel will have 115 rooms, a restaurant, coffee shop and conference center.   The city of Lynchburg is offering financial support to the project with the city council’s approval last year of a $5 million loan arrangement to help finance the $25 million cost.  The hotel will be called The Virginian Lynchburg, Curio Collection by Hilton.

In other news for Baskervill, an architecture, engineering and interior design firm, the company has opened a new office in Washington, D.C. It will replace an office at Tysons, with 10 employees working from the D.C. office.