By Eric Curl
Dec. 11, 2024 – The Housing Authority of Savannah unveiled on Tuesday a plan to develop affordable housing for seniors on three vacant parcels east of the downtown Historic District where the Blackshear Homes community was previously located, although some significant hurdles will have to be overcome before any new roofs are put over anyone’s head.
After first soliciting for proposals about two years ago, the housing authority selected Paces Preservation Partners to develop an 86-unit apartment complex, with 30 of the units set aside for very low-income seniors, and the remaining 56 units to be affordable for seniors of low-to-moderate incomes, according to Tuesday’s presentation.
Paces Preservation Partners is comprised of Georgia based nonprofit, The Paces Foudation, and Florida-based SOHO Housing Partners. The joint venture formed in Oct. 2020 to help address the growing affordable housing crisis and help housing authorities meet their revitalization goals, according to a 2020 press release.
A majority of funding for the almost $26 million project would come from highly competitive state low-income housing tax credits, which would be applied for next year. If successful in obtaining the financing, the developer anticipates beginning the pre-development phase next October and the completion of construction in December 2027.
Check out Tuesday’s full agenda packet
However, the plan’s dependency on the tax credits could delay that schedule, if not shutter the project altogether. The housing authority’s previous plans to complete the redevelopment of the area were abandoned in 2023 after the developer’s application for tax credits was unsuccessful, as previously reported.
That development is not the only local project that has struggled to obtain the credits. A city supported plan to construct 41 affordable apartments on former downtown city property recently failed in its attempt to obtain the tax credits for the fourth year in a row. Perserverance can pay off though. A city backed plan to construct up to 64 affordable apartments for seniors on a former fairgrounds site was successful in obtaining the credits this year in its second attempt, as previously reported.
A development agreement will be now prepared by Paces and housing authority staff to be presented for the board’s approval in the first quarter of 2025.
In other news:
- Evette Hester attended her first board meeting Tuesday after starting on Dec. 2 as the authority’s new CEO/Executive Director following the retirement of Earline Davis. Hester most recently served as the executive director of the New Orlans housing authority, a position she held since 2019, and her experience with various housing authority’s dates back to at least 1997, according to her resume.
- Yamacraw Village occupancy was at 38%, with 374 residents, as of Nov. 27. Among the community’s 315 units, 180 are under HUD”s “modernization” status, with approval to remain vacant.* The housing authority has been going through a lengthy review process to demolish and redevelop the community, which the housing authority determined in 2019 is not cost effective to rehabilitate, as previously reported.
- The housing authority received 2,482 online applications for the housing authority’s waiting list opening in September.* The waiting list is currently closed.
*Source: Housing Authority of Savannah
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