Statesboro’s mayor and council are set to take up another Tax Allocation District funding request this Tuesday, April 7 – but this time it’s a housing rehabilitation project south of East Main Street rather than a commercial development.
That’s one of several items on the agenda for the 9 a.m. regular, public council meeting at City Hall.
JBP Southern LLC, owned by David L. Pearce, is the applicant for $78,300 TAD funding for the project identified as Lafayette, Turner & Thomas. Pearce’s established company, Pearce Building Systems, is the general contractor, and he also owns the property, which is bounded by Lafayette, Turner, Thomas and Gordon Streets, through the JBP Southern limited liability company.
When he bought the property last year he paid $225,000 for the land value alone, he said. The Bulloch County Board of Tax Assessors database shows there were a dozen 90- to 95-year-old wood-frame houses on the parcel when he acquired it. The county appraisers listed 10 of the houses in “poor” condition and valued those from $20 to $4,500 each, and two in “fair” condition valued at $16,300 each. The houses were described as having fireplaces but no other permanent heating.
Pearce tore down the two houses he found to be in worst condition, one of which had eight bullet holes through it, he said. He has set about refurbishing the other 10 with new metal roofs, insulation, siding; heating, ventilation and air conditioning units; new fixtures, cabinets, windows where needed, floor coverings, paint, landscaping and mailboxes, according to his TAD funding application.
The estimated project cost, or value upon completion, is $522,000, which also includes the property purchase, he said Friday.
These will be 10 renewed one-bedroom home units ranging from 700 to 1,000 square feet each with an average of about 900 square feet. For now, the homes will be offered to people age 62 and older, Pearce told the Statesboro Herald.
“The houses were built nearly a hundred years ago, early 1930s, and our first thoughts were to tear everything down,” he said, “and then we started working with the city and talking with different ones and we’ve opted to refurbish them and try to make a nice place for the elderly, for seniors in our community.”
For senior citizens
The application notes a “large rear courtyard” as a planned amenity. He said it could be a shared area for the senior residents.
“We get a lot of people calling,” Pearce said. “There’s a need for senior citizens housing, little communities, and I think that’s just a really good spot for it.”
In the TAD application, he predicted a rent of $800 a month, for income from the homes totaling $96,000 annually, assuming full occupancy.
To cover 15% of costs
His request for $78,300 in TAD funding is for installation of what the city identifies as “private infrastructure,” and $78,300 is simply 15% of the $522,000.
Under “proposed uses of TAD funds” the application lists $65,800 for HVAC, $38,000 for siding and $24,000 for roofing, which obviously adds up to more than the requested funding amount.
The South Main Street or “Downtown” TAD Advisory Committee on March 16 voted 4-0 to recommended approval of the $78,300 funding award. City Council has the final say but cannot fund a TAD project without a positive recommendation from the committee.
The South Main Tax Allocation District was established in December 2014 for an area that extends to other streets on both sides of the South Main Street, or “Blue Mile,” downtown corridor. On the map, one finger-like projection of the district extends southeastward along Savannah Avenue and up Gordon Street to just this area, south of East Main.
As with other TADs, tax revenue from property values that existed within the district at the time of its creation has continued to go into the city’s general fund budget. But tax revenues resulting from new development and increased values after that date are held in a special fund for redevelopment projects in the district.
Most TAD-funded projects have been for commercial or mixed-use projects. City Council in early March approved a grant of $272,821 in TAD funds for private infrastructure improvements in the Hop Atomica Statesboro brewery, restaurant and micro-distillery planned for an existing building at 6 Walnut St., an almost $2.3 million total project.
But as Pearce alluded when he spoke of “working with the city,” creating more affordable housing has also been a stated goal of Statesboro city officials, and the city has a housing rehabilitation program of its own.
Other agenda items
Other pending City Council action items, lifted directly from Tuesday’s agenda, include consideration of motions …
· To approve Contract Amendment #2 in the amount of $13,931.75 on Task Order #7 with Goodwyn Mills Cawood, Inc. for additional professional engineering services on STM-46 Little Lotts Tributary Stream Restoration, to be funded by the EPD Section 319(h) grant.
· To negotiate a contract for design services to DPR Architecture. This contract will entail major design renovations and repairs to City Hall (GBD-4) and will be funded from 2025 SPLOST funds.
· To award a contract to Suncoast Restoration in the amount of $299,737.75 as they submitted the lowest responsive bid for this project to refurbish and renovate the brick surfaces and windows of the Averitt Arts Center. This project (GBD-4) will be funded from 2025 SPLOST funds.
· To approve a bid and contract with Underground Excavating, Inc. for $331,804.08 for construction of the Fire Station 3 Access Road (ENG-130A), funded by TSPLOST funds.
· To approve the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet 3500 Crew Cab from Alan Jay Fleet Sales in the amount of $69,790.82 for the Stormwater Division, to be funded by Stormwater Operating Income.
· To award a contract to Tyson Utilities in the amount of $115,351.50 for the installation of approximately 2000 feet of six-inch water main with appurtenant equipment (hydrants, valves, services) to serve additional hangers at the Statesboro/Bulloch County Airport. This project will be paid by Bulloch County with Airport TSPLOST funds.