“This is a big win for the community, a huge addition to downtown, and an incredible way to kick off 2025,” said Hamilton City Manager Craig Bucheit. “This is just one more amazing project that builds upon the momentum we’ve created and helps us continue driving development and revitalization here in Hamilton.”
The renovation of the former Anthony Wayne building is a $16 million renovation project, converting it from an apartment building to a seven-story, 54-room boutique hotel and restaurant.
The project was led by Matt Olliges, the lead for the Vision AWH LLC, a partnership between Kentucky-based Vision Reality Group and Florida-based Lighthouse Hospitality Group.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The project was announced in 2022, with the city providing funding to help with the project. Joshua Smith, the executive director of the Butler County Finance Authority, was Hamilton’s city manager when the deal was consummated. He said the hotel will support small businesses by driving patrons to local shops and restaurants.
“In the 1920s, business and community leaders recognized the necessity of a downtown hotel to ensure Hamilton’s continued growth and prosperity,” he said. “Nearly a century after the Anthony Wayne Hotel first opened to great acclaim, the opening of The Well House Hamilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, represents a significant milestone in the city’s ongoing revitalization.”
Smith said being in proximity to the Fitton Center for Creative Arts will also help to “foster a dynamic synergy, enriching cultural and experiential opportunities for both guests and residents.”
“The hotel will serve as a strategic asset for major employers like 80 Acres and Spooky Nook, offering premier accommodations for visitors and business partners while showcasing the vibrancy of Hamilton’s community,” he said.
The building exists because in large part of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. In 1924, chamber leaders commissioned a committee which found a consultant to study Hamilton’s need for a hotel and possible site.
A March 1925 report by the Hockenbury System of Harrisburg, Penn. recommended 100 to 150 rooms and later that same year, the site near the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument was chosen.
The original hotel opened on Oct. 28, 1927, and operated until May 10, 1964. It was then converted into 54 residential apartments.
“It’s pretty cool it’s coming full circle and we get to celebrate a rebirth with the building going back to (its original) purpose,” said Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce President Dan Bates.
Bucheit called the quality of restoration work “outstanding,” and said it keeps a familiar portion of the Hamilton skyline intact.
“The building is an amenity that draws people downtown to stay, dine and enjoy everything our city has to offer,” he said. “We’re really excited about the added foot traffic from the hotel and restaurant, which will enhance the vibrancy of the High Street corridor and our downtown as a whole.”
This hotel marks the half-way point of the number of planned hotels for the city of Hamilton. A second boutique hotel is planned across High Street at the former city building called the Municipal Hotel. Construction is expected to start in the next month or two and take a year to 18 months to complete.
Then there’s the dual Hilton hotel project at the corner of North MLK Jr. Boulevard and High Street that will begin once remediation of the former industrial site, which has been a parking lot since the 1960s, is completed. Then, the Crawford-Hoying property (the former Cohen Recycling property) will have at least one hotel on that mixed-use development.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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