By Eric Curl
Oct. 12, 2022 – Savannah Pedicab is preparing to move from its headquarters to the south end of downtown after learning their lease to use a city building will soon come to an end after more than a decade.
The city gave the business until Oct. 24 to be out of the concrete block building on East Broughton Street, just outside the downtown Historic District, to provide additional parking for the adjacent Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health Clinic.
Established in 1994, Savannah Pedicab has been providing transportation to locals and tourists throughout Savannah’s downtown Historic District for almost three decades. The business has operated out of the city owned building at East Broughton and Barr Street for about 11 years, and has about 30 employees, according to the general manager, Elena Dickey.
The owner has found a new location on Barnard Street, near Duffy Street, on the south end of downtown, but they will be paying double their current rate for a third of the space, Dickey said. Still, Dickey is hopeful the move will not have too much of a negative impact on the business. While the location is farther away from the more touristy part of downtown, they may be able to pick up more customers from the increasing popular Bull Street corridor and Starland District farther south.
“Considering how the city is developing around the area, it may be a great decision to move to that area,” Dickey said.
Look out for an auction of older pedicabs and equipment in the weeks ahead. The business will need to downsize due to the reduced space, Dickey said.
There is a disagreement between the city and Savannah Pedicab as to when they first received notice that their month-to-month lease was coming to an end. The city says they first notified the business in late August that the business needs to be out in 60 days. A notice hand delivered in October states Savannah Pedicab refused to accept the first notification when the city delivered it via certified mail.
Dickey said the October letter was the first written notice they received. They will be unable to move out by the city’s deadline due to all of the equipment they have to relocate, she said.
The move is a bit time sensitive. To reduce the health clinic’s costs, the developer of a student housing complex being built next door has agreed to demolish the site and pave the parking lot using its equipment and workforce, but only if it is on its timeline, according to the clinic’s attorney, Dana Braun.
The city is transferring the property where Savannah Pedicab is based to the Hospital Authority of Savannah, which approved the transfer during a meeting on Sept. 28. The hospital authority will in turn lease the property to Curtis V. Cooper for use as a 14-space parking lot for a period of 40 years, following the demolition of what is now Savannah Pedicab’s headquarters. The transfer and lease agreement was approved by the Savannah City Council on Sept. 22 to settle a claim with Curits V. Cooper, according to the meeting minutes.
The clinic lost access to 54 surface parking spaces, which have since been demolished, after the city swapped the property in 2019 with a developer for some parcels in the Highlands in northwest Savannah near Pooler. The clinic sold the property to the city in 2003 with the understanding that the city would build a parking garage there and reserve 54 spaces for the clinic, according to clinic officials. Instead, the city built the parking garage in the new Eastern Wharf development east of downtown.
The downtown property’s new owner is building a multifamily complex with a “student focus”, according to Opus Development’s Vice President Ben Angel.
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