The latest edition of Property Matters features news and updates on developments big and small, with proposed multi-family housing near the new arena, a planned restaurant along East Broad and proposals to protect and designate as historic buildings and sites throughout downtown Savannah and unincorporated Chatham County. The city is also moving forward with plans to put the former Waters Avenue shopping center to use, while the future of a popular recreational trail along the Savannah River may be in doubt.
Thanks for staying engaged,
1006 East Broad St.
On Jan. 25, a plan was submitted to renovate a vacant one-story building for use as a food and beverage establishment. A permit was approved on Feb. 1 for some interior demolition work there. The building has previously served as a neighborhood convenience store, game room and nightclub.
The property was sold for $380,000 to Wapiti Partners, LLC in August 2021, according to the sales record. The structure dates back to 1946, according to the property record. Last July, the Savannah City Council approved an alcohol permit with Sunday sales for a planned restaurant at the location.
1025 West Gwinnett St.
There is a multi-family housing development being planned for a 23-acre site on West Gwinnett Street southeast of the city’s new Enmark Arena, according to an amended master plan submitted for review on Feb. 22.
Spandrel Development Partners submitted the application for the amended development. The New York-based development firm is the developer of The Baxley apartment complex, which opened in 2020 just west of Savannah’s Historic District at 630 Indian St.
The proposal comes after previous plans to construct apartment complexes at the site were submitted in 2019 and 2008, but failed to move forward.
Subscribe to Savannah Agenda
[email-subscribers-form id=”1″]
2 East Henry St.
03.31.2022 update – the city manager withdrew the text amendment to add the 10 buildings as contributing resources in the Victorian District. The project may come back late this year, but for a proposal that covers buildings of ‘exceptional importance’ for the whole district instead of just phase 1.
03.04.2022 update: This proposal was pulled from the MPC’s March 1 meeting after it was discovered that the city’s zoning ordinance requires such amendments to contributing resources maps to go before the Historic Preservation Commission, not the planning commission. As a result, it is expected to go before the HPC on March 23 instead.
The building’s owner, Michael Sharkey, is opposed to the historic designation, according to an email he sent to the MPC on March 1.
“We bought and held the property with out the historic designation and are opposed to this action after the fact,” Sharkey said.
Original post – The former Sears building at 2 East Henry St. is one of 10 buildings that the Metropolitan Planning Commission is proposing to designate as contributing historic structures within the Victorian District.
The building was built in 1946, when Sears and Roebuck opened at the location after moving from Broughton Street, according to a 2010 National Register of Historic Places application included in the MPC staff report.
After Sears moved to the Oglethorpe Mall in 1969, the property was purchased in 1973 by the state, which used the building to house the Department of Family and Children Services. The building has been vacant since DFCS moved to Wheaton Street in 2004.
The old Sears building was the first commercial building to be built in Savannah following World War II, and the building’s interior was “elegant in style” with terrazzo flooring, polished wood details and murals depicting Savannah history on the walls, according to the National Register application.
The nomination application states that a local dentist acquired the building in 2006 and began plans to adapt the building into residential condos and commercial space, but the project was abandoned due to zoning ordinances limiting the building’s use.
The current owner, Michael Sharkey, purchased the property in 2006 for $180,000, according to the property record. The building’s 2021 appraised value was almost $1.8 million.
The proposal to designate the building as a contributing historic structure, along with the nine other properties, is scheduled to go before the MPC at the March 1 meeting.
If you find value in this website, please consider contributing via Paypal below to help cover the costs ($2 suggested contribution per story). You can also send contributions via Venmo @Eric-Curl and via CashApp at $ECrl77. Your support, no matter how much you give, is appreciated and will help ensure the future viability of this community resource.
2005 Waters Avenue
The Savannah City Council on Thursday approved an almost $1.8 million contract to renovate the space at the Waters Avenue shopping center previously occupied by the It’s Amazing beauty supply store.
The renovation was proposed by staff so the building could be used to house the Savannah Police department’s Savannah Impact Program. The Savannah Impact Program was relaunched last year by the current council as a way to reach out to youth, engage people on probation and prevent them from returning to a life of crime, as described in this 2021 WTOC news story.
The contract approval comes after It’s Amazing shut its doors for good on Oct. 1 after the store’s owners failed to get the city to extend the lease, a long-term agreement that had blocked the city’s plans for the site for years, as described in this Oct. 2021 Savannah Agenda story.
City Manager Jay Felder said during Thursday’s meeting that the city’s long-term plan includes attracting a full-scale grocer to the site, but that further investment will be required to accomplish that goal.
McQueen’s Island Trail
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) determined there was no feasible way to protect the McQueen’s Trail along the Savannah River from further erosion due to the costs of implementation, according to a staff report included with Friday’s Chatham County Commission meeting agenda. The news comes about a year after the county partnered with the USACE to look for long-range stabilization options to protect the popular recreational trail along US 80 from erosion caused by large ships, high tides and storms. The estimated cost to perform the study was $600,000 and the county had agreed in January 2021 to fund up to $250,000 towards that cost. A portion of those funds will be returned to the county, according to county staff.
At Friday’s meeting, the county commission approved a $27,640 contract increase and 90-day extension for the McQueen’s Trail stabilization project, after continued erosion and the need for additional fill materials drove costs up. The project was beset with issues from the start, with additional damage occurring after the original design was completed and before the repair work began. The latest increase is the fourth since the project began about three years ago, resulting in the total contract costs increasing from about $1.5 million to almost $2.6 million.
The additional funding will also be used used to complete the demolition of the midpoint entrance bridge and concrete culvert in accordance with requirements of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) due to the unsafe traffic conditions created by the parking lot at the midpoint on Highway 80 East near the Bull River Bridge.
Unincorporated Chatham County
The newly formed Chatham County Historic Preservation Commission will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, after being created to protect areas in unincorporated Chatham County that have a special historical, cultural or aesthetic value.
If you find value in this website, please consider contributing via Paypal below to help cover the costs ($2 suggested contribution per story). You can also send contributions via Venmo @Eric-Curl and via CashApp at $ECrl77. Your support, no matter how much you give, is appreciated and will help ensure the future viability of this community resource.
#StayEngagedSavannah