By Eric Curl
May 11, 2023 – Constructed in 1902 on what was West Broad Street, it’s been more than two decades since anyone lived in the 2-story wood frame dwelling just south of 38th Street. Pass by today, you’ll see the burnt up remnants of the structure on what is now 2205 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Named for its original occupants, A.J. and Effie Thorpe, the Galvan Foundation is now planning to make long vacant Thorpe house someone’s home once again, as the New York-based nonprofit developer moves forward with mixed-income housing plans for historic Cuyler-Brownville.
After purchasing the property from the Historic Savannah Foundation last year, a Galvan subsidiary recently submitted plans to rehabilitate 2205 MLK and build a carriage house on the lot, as was shown in historic Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. In addition, the subsidiary, Savannah Local Initiatives, submitted construction plans to build a matching dwelling and carriage house on the adjacent vacant, where the same maps show a similar structure had stood for more than 100 years. Today’s version of the Sanborn maps, Google Street View, shows that building was demolished between 2007 and 2012.
The renovation and construction plans are expected to go before the Historic Preservation Commission for consideration on May 24.
Cuyler-Brownville housing initiative map & database
As part of the sale, HSF placed a 10-year affordability covenant and deed restriction pertaining to the use and resale of the property. The covenant requires that affordable units not have a rent that exceeds the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) published fair market rents for Chatham County and that the affordable units must not have a household income that exceeds 120% of Area Median Income (AMI).
The Galvan subsidiary also submitted plans to construct three homes on vacant lots on the 700 block of Lavinia Street, east of Ogeechee Road, following the Chatham County-Savannah Land Bank Authority’s recent approval to sell the former city properties. The proposed 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom homes planned for the vacant lots are considered “affordable” under the LBA’s guidelines and requirements, which establishes a maximum sales price to ensure most properties can be purchased by households earning 80% of the area median income or less.
In addition, the LBA agreed to sell a dilapidated single-family house at 923 W. 40th St. to the Galvan subsidiary to rehabilitate the structure, under the plan approved last month.
The pending LBA sales are the first four of 19 former city properties the Savannah City Council agreed to sell as part of the New York-based nonprofit’s housing initiative in the historic Cuyler Brownville neighborhood.
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