By Eric Curl
May 22, 2023 – The Savannah College of Art and Design submitted plans last week to demolish the former railroad terminal at 703 Louisville Road and build a 220-unit student housing complex in its place.
The “head house” on the eastern end of the vacant building will be preserved in its existing location, with a 6-story student housing building to be built around it, according to the plans. A second building on the west side of the site will have seven levels, with two for parking and five for student housing.
The plans by Thomas and Hutton state that the university will use its best efforts to partially deconstruct the remainder of the building to make available all historic materials for repurposing. SCAD will also provide the Metropolitan Planning Commission with photographs and scaled plans, to meet documentation requirements prior to demolishing the structure, according to the plan.
In addition, SCAD will invest an estimated $3.2 million to fully remediate historical environmental issues on the site, according to a statement issued by the university regarding the project.
SCAD’s statement said the demolition of the building was approved several years ago due to its deteriorated condition and that the amended master plan further reduces the footprint of the buildings previously proposed for the site and increases greenspace.
“For over four-decades SCAD has adaptively rehabilitated more than 60 historic properties in Savannah, none of which were occupied at the time of the university’s acquisition, and the majority of which were derelict, had been abandoned for years and left to ruin,” the statement said. “The preservation of the headhouse on the 703 Louisville Road property continues this legacy.”
Constructed in 1929, the building is located about three blocks outside Savannah’s downtown Historic District’s western boundary at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The property previously faced demolition when different private developers proposed to replace it with apartment buildings in 2016 and 2019. Those plans never moved forward and earlier this year the city condemned the building after finding it to be unfit for human habitation, improperly secured, covered in graffiti, surrounded by litter and a harbor for vagrants and criminal activity. In late April, a city spokesperson said the city’s Code Compliance department had been unable to reach the owner, Charleston, S.C.-based 703 Louisville Road LLC, after multiple attempts.
The plans submitted by SCAD last week are an amended version of previous plans submitted by a private developer. A zoning change to convert an industrial portion of the site to residential was approved in 2019 by the Savannah City Council, as part of a developer’s plan to construct a 255-unit, 7-story multifamily building on the property. Following opposition from preservationists, the previous developer agreed to preserve and relocate the “head house” on the east end section of the building to be used as a leasing office. The project along the Springfield Canal was touted as the “gateway” to the city’s Canal District, where the new Enmarket Arena is located.
The building’s western half previously housed the Muse Arts Warehouse for seven years before closing in February 2017, as reported by columnist Bill Dawers in the Savannah Morning News.
The building was found to be unfit for human habitation, according to the posted notice. Eric Curl/April 14, 2023
The city recently condemned the former railroad freight terminal after finding it to be unfit for human habitation, improperly secured, covered in graffiti and surrounded by litter, according to public records. City of Savannah property maintenance photo from Jan. 6, 2023
The student housing plan comes as SCAD constructs a 17-story student housing complex on Indian Street by the Talmadge Bridge. In addition, the university completed renovations last year of a 14-story building at 609 Abercorn for use as a student dormitory after buying the former Chatham Apartments building for $39 million in 2020. Last month the university, a registered nonprofit, was approved for a tax exemption for the property after paying about $60,000 in taxes for the property in 2021 and 2022, according to Chatham County tax records.
SCAD did not respond to a request for comment sent May 15 regarding the university’s growing tax-exempt inventory. While the university owns about 80 tax exempt buildings throughout Savannah, a 2019 economic study found that the university contributes more than $577 million in economic impact to the city annually.
SCAD also recently acquired the former Ghost Coast Distillery building on Indian Street for $5 million with plans to renovate the structure for use as a school building.
Launched in 1979 with 71 students and 11 faculty and staff, today’s student body exceeds 16,000 and faculty and staff total more than 1,800, according to the university’s 2022-2023 Fact Book.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with some comments provided by SCAD after the university issued a statement Monday night following the publication of the original article.
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