Good morning,
Plant Riverside’s owner is paying its bills on time, six years after entering a controversial deal with the city. Meanwhile, city hall is in need of some TLC and the city is seeking a design firm with a background in preservation to make sure the historic building’s restoration is done right – and the $3 million in sales-tax funds budgeted for the project is put to good use. The Housing Authority of Savannah continues to receive more applications for housing than it can accommodate, while dealing with problematic elevators at their Stillwell Towers property for seniors. You can also read about the latest step to redevelop an almost 20-acre site along one of the main throughfares into downtown Savannah, as the formerly industrial area gets readied for a makeover.
Below you’ll find the latest news from Savannah Agenda, as well as some of this week’s upcoming meetings.
Stay Engaged Savannah,
The latest
So far, so good. Only about 27 years of bond payments to go. City officials say the Kessler Collection is meeting the terms of the deal, about six years since the Savannah City Council approved a controversial $43 million bonding agreement for the Plant Riverside project.
Beyond regular maintenance, minor repairs, and the installation of some modern systems, no formal interior restoration of Savannah’s City Hall has been completed since the building was constructed between 1904-1906. As a result there are damaged and deteriorated materials, missing original architectural details and inappropriate uses of space throughout. Last week the city took another step towards addressing the issue by issuing a request for proposals for design and construction administration services for a city hall restoration project. The RFP comes after voters approved $3 million for the project as part of the 2019 SPLOST VII referendum.
Unfortunately, in a sign of the times and the continued affordable housing crisis, more than 5,000 applications for public housing were submitted to the Housing Authority of Savannah in a span of 32 hours last month. In addition, the board “ratified” approval an almost $1.5 million contract to modernize the three elevators at Stillwell Towers, the 20-story, 211-unit public housing apartment building on Waters Avenue for seniors and individuals with disabilities. The five member board was only able to offer verbal support last month for the project due to a lack of a quorum, with two members present and one participating by phone. Mayor Van Johnson, who is charged with appointing the board’s members, said he will have two new members in place before the board’s meeting in September.
Long-dormant, the planned Riverview development may one day mirror the newly developed Eastern Wharf mixed-use community across President Street, with hotels, apartments, shops, restaurants and roof-top bars. First things first though. There’s zoning changes to be made.
Riverview President Street, LLC’s request for a Downtown-Central Business zoning classification, which allows for a broad array of uses typically found downtown, is going before the Metropolitan Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Upcoming meetings
Chatham-Savannah MPC meeting Aug. 16
Chatham County Assessors Board meeting Aug. 18
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