On a second try in two years, Phase 1 of developer Bill Gross’ plan to transform the old Julia P. Bryant Elementary School into a limited-rent apartment community for senior citizens was awarded the necessary tax credits this November.
“Thank the Lord, we got our reservation of tax credits, and so we are scheduled to get started probably the second quarter of 2023,” Gross said Monday.
In other words, he expects to break ground in April, May or June.
“That’s our goal,” he said. “Right now we’re getting all of the engineering and all the prerequisites done, the architectural drawings, and moving forward.”
The Bulloch County Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved an extension of the closing deadline for Gross’ purchase of a major portion of the old school to Jan. 31, 2023 in anticipation of the deal becoming final. Back in March 2021, the board, also unanimously, approved a conditional contract to sell him about 10.5 acres, roughly two-thirds of the campus, including the buildings on that tract.
He was, and still is, expected to pay $400,000 and have his company, W.H. Gross Construction of Kingsland, demolish and remove two buildings on the part of the property that the school district is keeping.
But the deal was contingent on his qualifying for federal and state tax credits, administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, or DCA, to finance the project. The original contract with the school district allowed him until Dec. 30, 2022, to secure the funding credits.
A close first try
Gross’ first application for the credits in fall 2021 fell just short of approval. In fact, his plan’s original score tied with that of projects in Byron and Dahlonega, all near the cutoff line for the 2021 funding. The DCA then applied a tiebreaker process and awarded credits to the other two projects, in addition to those that scored higher.
To improve the project’s chances in 2022, the Board of Education and Statesboro City Council in April approved an intergovernmental agreement which made the city the owner of a portion of the land, 4.49 acres, but not the buildings. City Council also unanimously approved offering Gross’ project-specific company, Bryant’s Landing Statesboro LP, a 50-year ground lease on that part of the property. This arrangement was made at the no more than nominal cost to the city government and without changing the amount Gross is to pay the school district, officials said.
But the lease gave Gross “site control,” said City Manager Charles Penny. He and school district Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Troy Brown said the city’s involvement also gave the project a boost in scoring.
“The lease with the city,” was Gross’ answer when asked what helped put the project over the threshold for credits this time.
“I’m extremely excited about working with Statesboro,” he said Monday. “Both the city and the school board have just been very upstanding folks to work with. Y’all have got a great community in Statesboro.”
Just got in
In the DCA’s November 2022 list of projects awarded tax credits, Bryant’s Landing again tied in the raw scores with two other projects, one in Rincon and one in Kingsland. But this time the Statesboro project won the tiebreaker and was approved for $964,120 worth of tax credits per year for 10 years.
Gross’ company will not receive the full amount of funding that implies. After “partnering” with investor companies that pay less than face value for the credits, he will use the proceeds to fund the construction, he explained.
Keeping 3 buildings
In the plan for Phase 1 of Bryant’s Landing, described as a senior living community, Gross’ company will renovate and repurpose three of the former school buildings – the cafeteria and office area and two classroom wings – and also build three new buildings to create a total of 51 apartments.
The new buildings will form the faces of the complex along Stockyard Road and Donnie Simmons Way.
Total development cost for Phase 1 is expected to be $9 million to $10 million, including financing, planning and other expenses as well as construction, he said.
Gross has a concept for Phase 2 that would roughly double the size of the development, to around 100 apartments. But construction of Phase 1 must begin before he can apply for tax credits for Phase 2.
“So, our goal is to get started on it and be able to apply for Phase 2 next year,” he said.
He hopes to have Phase I completed in mid-2024.
Bryant’s Landing was one of 28 projects across Georgia approved for annual Housing Tax Credits totaling almost $28 million in November.
Limited rents
Developers who use the tax credits are required to offer quality, affordable housing with rents linked to certain percentages of Area Median Income.
Monthly rents for one-bedroom units should range from about $485 to the “mid-500s,” and rents for two-bedroom units from the mid-500s to mid-600s, Gross told Statesboro City Council in May.
W.H. Gross Construction is a leading developer of tax credit-financed senior housing in southeastern Georgia. Gross has repurposed historic structures such as former schools in some previous projects, with one example being the Romana Riley Lofts in Savannah.