Plans are underway to turn a former Macon hotel into temporary housing for veterans

A Macon-based company wants to turn a "blighted" former hotel on Harrison Road into temporary apartments for veterans.

Goldstone Hospitality Inc., the hotel and motel division of American Aviation Group Inc., plans to convert the 100 rooms at the former Villager Lodge at 5009 Harrison Road into 70 apartment units for veterans, according to a report by American Aviation filed with the Macon zoning office.

Sixty units, with about 500 square feet of space, would be for single veterans, and 10 apartment units with about 800 square feet of space would be for married veterans or veterans with children.

The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission is expected to consider a conditional-use application to convert the 40,000-square-foot, two-story hotel at the intersection of Harrison Road and Eisenhower Parkway into temporary housing for veterans. The matter is on the commission's agenda for Monday's meeting, which begins at 1:30 p.m.

The tenants will "have 90 days with an extension if required to transition into general public," the report said. "At no time will anyone from the general public be accepted as tenants without being recommended by the Veterans Administration or other agencies that process homeless veterans."

The facility will not have a fully functioning kitchen as no meals will be provided on site.

"We will provide transportation for VA medical purposes," the report said. "We will provide a limited number of training classes to assist in the transition process.

The zoning application was filed by George Brown, who founded the American Aviation Group in 2005, according to its website. Brown managed the Middle Georgia Regional Airport until January 2006.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223, or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Plans are underway to turn a former Macon hotel into temporary housing for veterans ."