In 2015, this Hermes’-Gottlieb’s Bakery & Residence was purchased from the City of Savannah for rehabilitation into a mixed-use commercial /retail and multi-family residence. Sarah Ward, Preservation Principal for Ward Architecture + Preservation, worked with the owners, architect, and contractors to obtain historic tax incentives from the National Park Service and Georgia Historic Preservation Division. The property was fully researched and documented to identify historic character defining features which were retained and preserved through the rehabilitation effort. New changes to non-historic features were clearly modern and distinguishable from the original. Historic images of the property were used to replace the missing balcony on the north facade and the corner storefront entry.
Constructed in 1897, the Queen Anne style corner store originally served as the Hermes Bakery and the Hermes family lived in the private residence above. The business grew to be the 3rd largest bakery in Savannah. The Gottlieb’s occupied the building for their bakery beginning in 1928. Gottlieb's Bakery was well known in Savannah by this time and as early as 1936, just two years after commercial bakery sales began, they began supplying local Savannah Girl Scouts with cookies for fundraisers. The Gottlieb family operated the bakery and other businesses along the corridor through the mid to late 20th century.
The successful rehabilitation was completed in 2017 and the Historic Tax Credits (Federal and Georgia income tax credit combined for a value of 45% the rehabilitation expenses) and an 8.5 year Property Tax Freeze were approved. The project received the 2018 Excellence in Rehabilitation Award from the Georgia Trust and the 2018 Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Savannah Foundation.