Feature photo: SAGIS.org 2023 image
By Eric Curl
May 25, 2025 – The city is now planning to construct a new police station at a city complex off West Gwinnett Street, after previously issuing a request for proposals for a project manager to help develop the precinct on a long-vacant 9-acre site on Louisville Road.
The city issued the RFP on April 15 after getting notice that the Savannah Police department will have to move out of the current leased facility by the end of next year. On May 5, the city amended the RFP to reflect the new location at 6 Interchange Drive, near the Floyd Adams, Jr. City Services Complex, according to a statement issued Friday in response to an inquiry by Savannah Agenda.
“Under normal due diligence procedures following the release of the Request for Proposal (RFP), staff determined the potential site on Louisville Road was not compatible for construction of a new building due to access points that passed through flood plain zones,” the city response stated. “As a result, the final location was determined to be a cleared and ready-to-go site at the City’s Adams Municipal Complex—which is located within the NW Precinct boundaries.”
Following Savannah Agenda’s story on April 20 about the original RFP, Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier expressed opposition to the precinct being built at the Louisville location, stating on social media and at the city council’s May 8 meeting that the community preferred affordable housing be developed instead.
“That’s what we wanted,” Lanier said. “We need rooftops, we need heads – so we could count and maybe acquire a grocery store.”
After learning of the amended location, Lanier joined the rest of the city council in approving more than $1.4 million in funding for the project’s design. While the design of the new precinct will generally be based on the Central Precinct, with the addition of a real-time crime center, each new building requires a custom design to fit the site, according to city officials.
The city said in its statement that there are no current plans for the Louisville site, which the city acquired 20 years ago as part of what was dubbed the “Westside Master Plan”, according to the 2004 meeting minutes. The 2004 minutes also stated that the property was needed by the city for mitigation purposes in order to utilize other properties being purchased for a proposed “Westside Municipal Complex on Stiles Avenue.”
City Manager Jay Melder told the city council during the May 8 meeting that staff is working on an inventory of all city-owned properties as part of a master plan that will be discussed at a future workshop.
The new precinct will replace the current facility at 602 East Lathrop Avenue, which the city has been leasing since 2018.
Construction is scheduled to begin early next year, with the temporary occupancy certificate anticipated by mid-December 2026. The timeline aligns with the recent lease extension for the current facility at 602 East Lathrop Avenue, which the Savannah City Council approved in February. The lease, originally set to expire at the end of 2025, has been extended through Dec. 31, 2026, with an annual rental cost of $420,787. However, the landlord has indicated that no further extensions will be available beyond this date, as the property owner is making other plans for the property, according to city officials.
“The project timeline is driven by the non-extendable lease expiration of the current Northwest Precinct at the end of 2026, and strict adherence to the schedule is critical,” the RFP states.
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