Staff file photo / The Clemons building holds 54 apartments and has an entrance on West Eighth Street.A century-old downtown high-rise building reopened Wednesday as Chattanooga's newest boutique hotel.
The former Clemons Lofts apartments at Chestnut and 8th streets has been converted into the Bode Hotel, which when fully developed will include 54 units, including one-, two- and three-bedroom options.
Each unit in the hotel includes a kitchen and the hotel also features the Hub - an all-day cafe that features craft cocktails and beer on draft, along with a market and lightly prepared meals.
TMC Group in Irvine, California, which bought the six-story building last year for $10 million, said it invested a few million dollars more in its conversion to the new hotel.
The company opened its first Bode Hotel last year in Nashville and is considering at least three other such hotels.
TMC Group in Irvine, California, bought the six-story Clemons building at Chestnut and 8th Street last year for $10 million and reopened the former office and apartment complex Wednesday into a new Bode boutique hotel. Workers are still putting the final touches of the hotel, which will have a grand opening celebration later this year.
"We have Bodes in planning in Savannah, Georgia, as well as Palm Springs, Orange County and Indian Wells, California," said Philip Bates, managing partner for TMC.
The Bode name reflects both the "abode" living space available in each hotel room and how staying there "bodes well" for visitors, company officials said.
Santosh Kuruvilla, vice president of operations for TMC Group, said the new Bode hotel in Chattanooga is offering special introductory rates for guest rooms with a one-bedroom unit starting at $129 a night, a two-bedroom renting at $229 a night and a 3-bedroom renting for $329 a night.
"Unlike a typical hotel guest room, there are kitchen facilities within the units which enhances the stay experience tremendously," Kuruvilla said.
Most of the hotel rooms are similar in size to the apartments and condos which were previously leased when the structure was known as the Clemons Building.
According to the Hamilton County Assessor's Office, the Clemons building was erected in 1930 and includes 81,174 square feet, which includes a total of 114 bedrooms.
The new hotel will initially have a staff of 15 employees and is headed by general manager James Camp.
The Bode is the third boutique hotel to open in downtown Chattanooga in the past seven months. The Edwin, developed by the Chattanooga-based Vision Hospitality Group, opened with 90 rooms near the Walnut Street Bridge last September and the Chattanooga-based 3H Group developed The Moxy hotel last November.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.