By Eric Curl
April 16, 2023 – Three vacant lots are set to be developed as affordable housing and a neighborhood eyesore is expected to be made livable once again, following the approval last week of mixed-income housing plans for Cuyler-Brownville.
The Chatham County-Savannah Land Bank Authority (LBA) approved the sale of the first four of 19 former city properties to the Galvan Foundation as part of the New York-based nonprofit’s housing initiative in the historic neighborhood.
The properties include a dilapidated single-family house at 923 W. 40th St. that the city had owned since 2005 before transferring it to the LBA in January as part of the redevelopment plan. The LBA will now sell the property to a locally formed subsidiary of the Galvan Foundation for $30,000 in order for the developer to rehabilitate the structure and build an addition, under the plan approved Wednesday.
The property, which has foundation piers in the back that appear ready to “crumble,” has been marketed by the LBA for more than a year with no success, said Director Alison Goldey.
“It’s a little bit more than they want to take on,” Goldey said.
Galvan through the subsidiary, Savannah Local Initiatives (SLI), is proposing to rehabilitate the property and add an addition to the building, which is missing a portion of the back side and has no kitchen or bathroom. The completed 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom home will be sold for $258,000, as approved last week.
The approved sales also include three vacant lots on the 700 block of Lavinia Street, east of Ogeechee Road, where Galvan is proposing to build three single-family homes that would then be sold for $209,000. 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.
The guidelines also require that at least 50% of the properties meet the affordability limit when multiple properties are being developed in a neighborhood. In this case, 75% percent of the properties approved for sale will be affordable, since the 40th street home’s proposed sales price exceeds the LBA’s current $230,000 maximum sales price. Galvan’s proposed sales price is based on the development costs of the project, in addition to a $30,000 fee to recover the city’s investment in the property over the years.
The developer committed to at least 51% percent of the 19 properties being developed as affordable when the city agreed to the land transfer, according to Martin Fretty, LBA board member and Savannah’s Housing & Neighborhood Services director.
“The others would be market rate to make the numbers work,” Fretty said.
With regards to the 40th street property, Fretty said said the higher cost could be mitigated for lower income buyers via down-payment assistance offered through the city’s Savannah Affordable Housing Fund.
The Savannah City Council approved the transfer of the properties to the LBA in January to initiate the redevelopment plan. Galvan’s plans will also need approval from the Historic Preservation Commission since Cuyler-Brownville’s designation as a local historic district.
The projects are expected to take nine months to complete once the properties are conveyed to SLI.
In an statement emailed Friday, Vice President Dan Kent said that Galvan is grateful for the opportunity to partner with the LBA, the city, and CHSA on the housing initiative.
“The Lavinia Street and 40th Street houses represent our first step to provide needed mixed income housing and homeownership opportunities to this community,” Kent said.
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