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City staff seek council authorization for Savannah Gardens infrastructure deal; outline Cummings Street acquisition and budget request
Summary
City staff updated council on Savannah Gardens redevelopment (a 608‑unit final phase) and requested authorization to cancel promissory notes and to let the city manager enter a $1.75M infrastructure agreement with Mercy Housing; staff also outlined a Cummings Street eminent‑domain acquisition plan and asked for $1.324M in seed funding across three budget lines for 2020.
City staff briefed the Savannah City Council on Oct. 24 on two linked housing initiatives: the final phase of the Savannah Gardens redevelopment and a blighted‑property acquisition plan on Cummings Street.
Housing and Neighborhood Services Director Martin Fretty described the Savannah Gardens final phase as a planned unit development that will include single‑family and multi‑family dwellings and a park; he said the project will total 608 family dwellings when complete. Staff asked council to "authorize the cancellation of City and CHSA promissory notes to CHSA Development" and to authorize the City Manager to enter into a $1.75 million public infrastructure development agreement with Mercy Housing. The work session record does not show that council voted on those requests during the session.
On Cummings Street, Fretty said the city has used eminent domain to acquire 226 Cummings Street (acquired 2018; house nearing completion after a September 2019 groundbreaking) and intends to pursue hearings for additional addresses (242, 218, 231, 220, 236 and 238 Cummings). He said the completed house will be sold to a first‑time buyer at an estimated $750 per month. Fretty outlined a broader goal to acquire and redevelop up to 1,000 blighted properties in ten years and requested 2020 budget seed funds described in staff notes as: $500,000 general funds to start acquisitions; $500,000 for the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund (construction); and $324,010 for salaries and benefits to staff four new positions. The transcript shows question marks in one budget line; staff pledged to provide exact leveraged‑funding numbers to Alderman Foster after the meeting.
Council members asked whether proceeds from a future sale would return to the city and whether units in the final Mercy Housing phase would be affordable; staff replied that sale proceeds would return to the city if the final phase were sold and said, "Everything in the project is affordable housing." Staff committed to delivering precise leveraged‑funding figures on request.
