By Eric Curl
Oct 8, 2023 – The original developer of the long planned Starland Village sold the properties to a Charleston-based corporation last month, although the CEO says his company remains a partner.
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Foram Development sold a parcel that includes a former church, an adjacent half-demolished school building and a parking lot behind the church at 2201 Bull St for more than $1 million. on Sept. 22, according to sales records. The corporation that bought the properties, Starland Property Company LLC, was authorized by Ashleigh Dane, with Charleston based Equus Development Partners. Equus was brought in as Foram’s partner in 2021.
A Foram subsidiary also sold the parcel north of the church, across 38th Street, for about $692,00 to the same corporation. The site was acquired by Foram from the city in 2018 and the developer then demolished a former Savannah police building to clear the way for a planned 5-story, 59-unit apartment building.
Foram CEO Travis Stringer said via email on Oct. 3 that the property, aside from the church, was transferred into an entity in which Foram is a main partner. The first phase of the project is the construction of two apartment buildings. The church will be phase two, Stringer said.
Stringer did not respond to requests for additional information concerning the schedule for the development, when the school’s demolition would resume, or whether the sale would impact the plans for the site. Dane also did not respond to requests for this information.
The property sales come about three months after the resumed demolition of the former school led to the power outage in July, when a large portion of the structure collapsed onto power lines and the adjacent lane (watch video), as previously reported.
A city spokesperson said on Sept. 26 that the city did not issue any fines for the incident and that the developer has permits to continue the demolition. There was a violation issued by Code Compliance regarding debris left in the right of way and a fence issue, the spokesperson said.
Located on a two-block stretch of Bull Street in the area also known as the Starland District south of downtown, the planned development is supposed to include the construction of the two apartment buildings and renovation of the historic church for potential commercial or office use.
The sale comes as Foram is also planning to build another mixed-use apartment complex along East Broad Street on nine parcels between East Gwinnett and East Bolton streets, as previously reported. Consideration of the plan was continued on Sept. 26 by the Metropolitan Planning Commission to the Nov. 7 meeting, as reported by The Savannahian.
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