May 2, 2009

Lessons from UGA Music Business Students

Filed under: UGA, athens, community, music business — Amy Hibler @ 7:00 am

We love UGA students’ enthusiasm for Athens, particularly that of our externs from the Music Business Program. UGA Senior Emmy Bateman describes it best: “There is something for everyone in Athens. People travel to this one-of-a-kind, southern town for many different reasons…Whether it is as a student—attending one of the finest collegiate institutions in the nation, whether it is as an alumnus—revisiting the homeland of their glory days, whether it is a parent—sending a child away for the first time, a college football aficionado—watching their undisputed favorite football team slay competition, a music lover—catching the tail end of their favorite band’s Southeastern tour, an avid art collector—visiting one of the many local galleries. Regardless, there is one word to describe the people who travel here: fans.”

We’ve learned a lot from the millenials, because they truly understand the notion of “boutique”. Students graduating today are acutely aware of the need for businesses to appeal to niche markets. The music example from Chris Anderson’s Long Tail is yet another reminder of the multitude of preferences we seek to address at 500 College Avenue:

 

From Chris Anderson's book Long Tail

From Chris Anderson's book Long Tail

hitlandnicheland

 


April 28, 2009

April Highlights

Filed under: community, construction, green — Amy Hibler @ 6:18 am

In April, we had rain, we had sun, and rain again, and again. However, the water has not slowed down construction.

On the sunny days we had several groups of visitors on site, from Emerging Green Builders to engineering and interior design students. The development and construction team received a lot of positive feedback via a post-tour online survey, which revealed that both the LEED features of the building and the quality of construction are perceived as the two major strengths of the project.

The tours also generated some press coverage, including a feature in the Red and Black and in the Athens Banner Herald.  Hotel Indigo Athens made front-page news on Earth Day (see ABH 04.22.09)!

Kelly Lambert/Athens Banner Herald Staff

Photograph by Kelly Lambert/Athens Banner Herald Staff


March 9, 2009

Topping Out Party

Filed under: celebration, community, construction, milestone — Amy Hibler @ 9:24 am


Hotel Indigo reached another milestone on Friday, topping out at five floors. Over 200 people gathered to celebrate, including JM Wilkerson’s construction crew and special guests from near and far. As the tradition holds, an evergreen tree was placed atop the completed structure to symbolize growth and bring luck. 

Together we feasted, we toured and we entertained. The celebration opened with UGA student Derrick Southerland’s electric guitar performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and a roll-down of a large banner announcing that Hotel Indigo Athens is now taking reservations for Fall 2009. The grill was fired up, and the sun was shining brightly upon us.
Many of us climbed the five floors to check out construction and take in views of Athens from the rooftop. See our Topping Out Party album for pictures. Thank you to everyone who made this day possible.

October 8, 2008

Community Outreach

Filed under: art gallery, community, sustainability — Amy Hibler @ 1:23 pm

Our architectural model is now on tour and has traveled from Atlanta to Madison to Athens.

First stop: Sustainability Expo at the Madison Morgan Cultural Center (www.madmorg.org), where one of our investors is an active board member and champion for green architecture. The exposition drew in crowds of locals interested in learning more about sustainable practices in Georgia—from geothermal and solar technologies to land conservation and sustainable forestry. Hotel Indigo Athens was proud to represent green building and educate the community about LEED standards. See pictures by linking here.

Next Stop: Mercury Art Works gallery in Athens. Chris Wyrick and Sandi Turner threw us a party we’ll never forget. We mixed and mingled with Athens locals and even had a surprise guest come down from New York (see pictures here). Ellen Hanson introduced her ideas for the interiors and invited local artists to collaborate. We are delighted to see some of these budding relationships begin to develop.

Final Stop: Construction Trailer on Site. The architectural model will be temporarily housed in Athens for on-site tours. Also coming soon on site: a full-scale model of one of our hotel rooms, fully furnished and detailed!


September 7, 2008

Athens Art Scene

Filed under: UGA arts, athens, community, sustainability — Amy Hibler @ 1:43 pm

Athens is a gold mine for the arts. Between the University of Georgia’s commitment to art education and the larger community’s promotion of local talent, there exists a richness of spirit and culture unique to this college town.

For the first time ever, UGA introduced a four-day Arts Festival featuring fine and decorative arts exhibits, as well as musical and theatrical performances. Honoring UGA’s new home for arts education, the festival kicked off with the Lamar Dodd School of Art building dedication, which our development team attended this past Thursday. We were very impressed by the building’s accomplishments in sustainability, from its green roof to its water conservation efforts (includes a stormwater infiltration system). But the building’s most unique sustainable feature is the art on the walls–continuously produced by both faculty and students, and displayed on a rotating basis. Our hotel seeks to create the same community-inspired environment through art exhibits that refresh seasonally.

We are excited to find so many people within the Athens community that share our philosophy about sustainable development as it relates to the arts. From the Athens Design Development group to the Mercury Art Works duo, we are discovering unforeseen opportunities that we cannot wait to realize. The home of Sandi Turner and Chris Wyrick is a good example of what we would like to create within the hotel–a place where the boundary between art gallery and living space blurs:


July 28, 2008

Athens Grow Green Coalition

Filed under: athens, community, sustainability — Amy Hibler @ 3:24 pm

We recently learned that Athens has its own organization for promoting sustainable development called the Athens Grow Green Coalition (AGGC). We have taken interest in the group, because we share their mission to promote responsible community development.

Last week we had the opportunity to meet two representatives of the board, and we have been thinking about ways to get involved. We have been tossing around different ideas, from providing financial support to assisting with a lecture series on sustainable development. Stay tuned for future updates, but we wanted to get the word out about the group’s initiatives, one of which is an annual report called “Growing Sustainability.”


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