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Prospective buyer of Beexley B&B urges zoning change, council seeks more operational details
Summary
A prospective operator of the 519 S. Drexel bed-and-breakfast told council five rooms is not financially viable and asked to remove the owner-occupancy requirement so a manager suite can become a revenue room; council requested more details on parking, staffing, food service and comparisons to an Airbnb model ahead of a public hearing.
A prospective buyer of the Beexley bed-and-breakfast at 519 South Drexel told the City Council on June 9 that the property cannot be operated profitably under the current owner-occupancy restriction and asked the council to amend the variance to allow an additional guest room.
Robert Calabro, owner of a Short North bed-and-breakfast and the prospective purchaser, said his current eight-room property operates with on-site staff but not an on-site owner and that the Beexley property's five-room configuration makes it difficult to sustain. "Our intention is to continue operating it as a full service bed and breakfast with staff on site daily," Calabro said, adding that converting the manager suite into a guest suite is the only viable path given fire-code limitations on adding rooms.
Council members pressed for specifics. One asked for financial modeling to show why six rooms is a threshold for viability; another asked whether removing owner-occupancy would effectively turn the property into a short-term rental (Airbnb-style) without the daily on-site presence that differentiates a staffed bed-and-breakfast from a short-term rental. Parking also emerged as a concern: council asked how many spaces serve the property and whether eliminating two owner parking spots would create neighborhood impacts.
The council's procedural next step: the ordinance (10-26) was set for a public hearing at the next council meeting; staff and the applicant were asked to provide operational models, parking details, and a description of the proposed food service (full breakfast versus an elevated continental offering) and on-call protocols for after-hours guest issues.
Why it matters: The change being requested would alter zoning conditions tied to owner residency and could affect neighborhood parking, noise, and short-term rental activity. Council members said they want concrete operational and safety details before voting.
