Judge Awards Historic But Crumbling St. George Hotel To Prominent Chattanooga Businessman

  • Friday, December 20, 2019
photo by Mark Herndon

A judge has awarded the historic, but crumbling, St. George Hotel to a prominent Chattanooga businessman.

Circuit Court Judge Kyle Hedrick said in a 22-page opinion that Martha Adler "had a vision" for the century-old property, but was unable to get the daunting project underway.

He ruled against her in a lawsuit she brought against James Hutcherson, one of the founders of the CPA firm of Henderson, Hutcherson and McCullough.

Mr. Hutcherson had agreed to loan Ms. Adler $700,000 for the project - with the agreement that he could take the redevelopment on himself should she not be able to get it going in 18 months. She was not able to despite pitching the idea to a number of investors.

The St. George sits at 1445 Market St. across from the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

There was a damaging fire there in about 2004 and a large portion of the building was demolished by the city in around 2013. About 9,500 square feet of the hotel remained. The judge said it "had not been shored up or stabilized by any prior owner. The facade had been exposed to the elements for a number of years and was in dire condition."

Former owner Craig Driver sold it to Ms. Alder for $245,000 in June 2013. It was in foreclosure at the time.

The opinion says Ms. Alder got $150,000 from her parents and $100,000 from investor Karla Burkich.

The new owner "had a video produced depicting her plan for a wonderful new addition to Chattanooga's Southside." 

Ms. Alder was told soon after she bought it that it was not economically feasible to save the facade and that it did not have enough architectural value to save.

Another specialist who looked at it said in his 35 years as an engineer "he had never seen an owner attempt to rehab such a building due to costs alone."

Arch Willingham of T.U. Parks Construction determined it was not financially feasible to keep the original brick facade.

The opinion says Mr. Hutcherson was the CPA for Mr. Driver, who advised Ms. Alder to check with him about investing.

It says Mr. Hutcherson owns two homes that were authentically restored, and his CPA firm restored a former railroad freight station. The opinion says Mr. Hutcherson testified that he spent so much on making his home renovation accurate that he spent more than he could recoup later.

It states that Mr. Hutcherson's desire is to preserve the facade and the remaining structure of the St. George Hotel. He has reached out to his brother, an engineer, on saving the facade and the remaining structure.

Judge Hedrick said Ms. Alder "is a wonderful human being whose vision and desires seem to be crumbling around her. She has the additional stresses of having invested monies entrusted to her by her family."

He said, "While the result will certainly be harsh for Ms. Alder, it is simply a failed business venture." 

She was directed to execute a deed transferring the hotel property to Mr. Hutcherson.

The appraised value of the property is $1,065,770.

 

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