By Eric Curl
April 16, 2023 – The city is hoping some recent actions will help spur a ground breaking for the long-planned development at the former fairgrounds site, but there are some significant steps that still need to be completed before the digging involves more than just ceremonial golden shovels.
At Thursday’s meeting, the Savannah City Council authorized a $1.92 million loan to support the low-income housing tax credits application for 64 affordable housing apartments for seniors. The senior housing is the first phase of the development, which is also expected to bring a production studio, recreational fields and public trails at the more than 60-acre site at 4801 Meding St.
The tax credits are a key component for financing of the senior housing, and without them the affordable housing element will not be feasible, according to city spokesperson Keturah Greene.
If awarded the tax credits, the loan from the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund is expected to leverage about $10 million in additional financing for the project. However, obtaining the highly competitive tax credits is far from guaranteed.
During the same meeting, the city council authorized another loan of $1.26 million to support a tax credit application for the development of 42 affordable apartments on former city property at 1700 Drayton St. The bid will be the third attempt after the developer’s applications in 2021 and 2022 lost out to other projects throughout the state, as reported in March.
In addition, Housing Authority of Savannah officials recently attributed the challenges of obtaining the tax credits as a key factor in the decision to abandon plans for mixed-income developments east of Savannah’s downtown historic district.
Since the tax credit recipients are announced by the state in November, construction of the affordable housing at the fairground’s site would not likely begin until at least 2024, Greene said.
Meanwhile, the city council also approved a purchase agreement with the developer after more than a year of negotiations, but the city and developer are still negotiating a development agreement for the project that would govern the future uses, planned occupancy financing and ownership details.
The purchase agreement gives the two parties 90 days to negotiate the development agreement or the purchasing agreement could be terminated. City staffers say they anticipate submitting the development agreement to the city council for consideration in late July or early August.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on April 20 to incorporate the comments from city spokesperson Keturah Greene.
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