THOMASVILLE, Ga. — A Thomasville Payroll Development Authority (PDA) member prefaced his remarks Monday by saying a discussion of transferred city-owned property is premature, but continued that a request is expected from a developer to put a hotel at the site.

The 207 S. Dawson St. property has not been transferred to the PDA yet, said panel member Stephen Cheney. Thomasville City Council voted 4-1 last week to transfer the land.

“Hopefully, this won’t be either,” said Cheney, who is the Thomasville National Bank chief executive officer.

The PDA, he said, was established to promote growth and to protect the well-being of the community.

The PDA will look at the economic impact and the number of jobs created by a hotel, Cheney said, noting hotel-motel taxes would be paid by a hotel.

Cheney also said the PDA will take into account whether a hotel would impact downtown merchants in a positive way, the impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood and its role in the comprehensive plan.

“We will look very carefully at who will develop this project,” he said. “Do they have the means to do it?”

The architectural style would be looked at to be sure it fit Thomasville long-term.

The 3.8-acre tract, the former site of a Roses store, was purchased by Thomasville City Council in 2013 for $1.8 million. The Roes building was demolished, leaving a vacant, grassed piece of land at South Dawson and Remington Avenue.

The PDA would appreciate suggestions for other options, Cheney said. A development project at the site is time-sensitive, and the PDA cannot wait and hope for other projects, he said.

Giving the land to a developer would be considered, but the developer would be expected to put what would have been the purchase price into a building and grounds to ensure a project’s appearance would be characteristic for Thomasville.

“It’s very much in the normal course of what we do,” Cheney told the Times-Enterprise after the meeting, in reference to giving away the property.

During the meeting, Cheney said, “Every piece of land we’ve given away, we’d rather have sold.”