By Eric Curl
Sept. 17, 2023 – A consultant hired by the Housing Authority of Savannah recently identified more than $51 million in capital improvements needed for the 82-year-old Yamacraw Village low-income housing community in downtown Savannah’s westside.
The report by AEI Consultants recommends that the apartment buildings be demolished and redeveloped to provide higher density, affordable multifamily housing at the site.
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The assessment submitted in August is part of the 5-year-action plan the Housing Authority of Savannah is required to submit to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The latest report comes after a 2019 assessment found more than $40 million in capital improvements were needed at Yamacraw, spurring the housing authority to begin the demolition application process for the 315-unit community. The demolition application plan was first included in the Housing Authority’s annual plan for the 2021 fiscal year, but the process was delayed by community concerns and the need for additional studies needed to examine environmental and historical aspects of the site.
The demolition is again on this year’s annual plan with the intention is to redevelop the site with improved housing as was done for other communities in the past, Executive Director Earline Davis said Thursday.
“The application we are preparing would be to demolish and rebuild affordable housing,” Davis said. “That’s what we are asking HUD for permission to do.”
The community’s inclusion within an overlay district that allows for large hotels has led to some speculation about the future of the site accommodating visitors rather than residents, but Davis dismissed such concerns.
“We have never considered the property at Yamacraw for a hotel,” she said. “I don’t care what the zone is.”
AEI’s latest findings include foundation settlement, water intrusion, broken windows, walls and ceilings with water/mold and physical damage, damaged stairs, plumbing pipe leaks and issues with the electrical systems. AEI also reported that of Yamacraw’s 315 units, 101 were down and another 24 were vacant.
Yamacraw also has two accessory buildings, a community center and maintenance and storage building, that were both found to be in fair condition with only minor or moderate repairs needed.
Housing authority officials say the initial needs assessment qualified the development for demolition and disposition under HUD regulations, since the work that is required is greater than 60 percent of the redevelopment costs. While a majority of the application is complete, the submission is pending as the housing authority awaits the city’s completion of a study identifying any historic resources within the community, as required by HUD.
Yamacraw’s potential redevelopment comes after the housing authority’s demolished and redeveloped communities in recent years that were in similarly poor condition. Such communities include the 1940s-era Strathmore Estates apartments that were demolished to make way for the Savannah Gardens mixed-income community comprised of 500 units of multi- and single-family housing along Pennsylvania Avenue.
In addition, the housing authority in 2018 completed the first two phases of The View at Oglethorpe community, which included 137 affordable and 35 market-rate units on the former Wessels and Blackshear housing sites on downtown’s eastside. The River Pointe community’s first phases include 280 rental assistance units following the 2017 rehabilitation of the former Wessels and Blackshear units.
However, such plans are not always without challenges.
The housing authority has been struggling to move forward with the next phases of The View and River Pointe, which were to be built on the remaining 18 acres left vacant following the demolition of the former Hitch Village and Fred Wessels Homes. In February, the housing authority terminated the 2019 agreement with the developer, Hunt Development Group, after both parties determined the five future phases were infeasible, largely due to financing issues related to the challenge of obtaining highly competitive state tax credits.
HAS is evaluating redevelopment options for the properties, which may include new projects arising from the a solicitation for public housing projects at the site and throughout Savannah, with submissions due by the end of the year.
Davis said that the tax credits are always a challenge and they would also have to move forward with Yamacraw’s redevelopment in phases to finance that project, if the demolition proposal is ultimately approved.
The housing authority also had capital needs assessments of the organization’s other housing communities, Pickens Patterson Terrace, Simon Frazier Homes and Stillwell Tower, along with multiple single-family homes throughout the city. While about $468,000 in capital improvements were recommended, the reports found that those properties were in fair physical condition and structurally sound. The properties’ have another 50 years of use, assuming the near and long term specified repairs are performed, according to the assessments.
Davis said staff is examining the capital reserve budget in order to develop the funding plan for the recommended improvements, with a focus on prioritizing any health and safety concerns first.
The housing authority is planning on submitting the next 5-year-plan to HUD in January after being reviewed by the board in October and consultation with residents is complete.
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