The first half of 2012 has been notable for the major developments regarding large underutilized tracts of land in or near Savannah’s core.
Whole Foods Market was announced as the anchor tenant for a new retail complex on the site of the former Backus Cadillac at Victory Drive and the Truman Parkway.
North Point Hospitality Group plans to build two hotels and several commercial buildings on the various parcels currently owned by Georgia Power at the east end of River Street.
There are also plans for a new hotel on West Oglethorpe Avenue, another at the corner of River Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and yet another on West Bay Street.
The Cay Building on Ellis Square’s northeast trust lot will open soon with its office and retail spaces fully leased.
The new North Garden at the Ships of the Sea Museum will be unveiled soon. It has transformed a long-neglected lot on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard into a great public space and event venue.
There’s a July 13 deadline on the request for proposal for redevelopment of the city-owned block bounded at Hall Street and MLK.
The city’s new SPLOST-funded cultural arts center is planned for the vacant tract at Oglethorpe Avenue and MLK.
It looks like the new police headquarters will be built on the vacant block of Oglethorpe Avenue between Habersham and Price streets.
The One West Victory development will front Victory Drive between Barnard Street and Bull Street. It will hold 121 apartments, plus a parking garage and retail space.
A 32-unit apartment complex is planned for the north side of 61st Street off Abercorn Street.
The completion of the new fire station at 32nd and Whitaker streets is in sight. The dark brick exterior seems like a really good choice given the buildings in the neighborhood and the proximity to Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
These projects have generated varying degrees of interest and controversy, but taken together, they say some important things about the state of economic recovery within the Savannah city limits.
Several conclusions seem fair.
Tourism is strong, and investors are banking on it getting even stronger
This is good news for the local economy, but only to a point. I know I sound like a broken record on this issue, but a downtown economy overly reliant on tourism risks a reduction in residential quality of life.
An economy overly dependent on tourism is also at risk of sharp shocks from things like recessions and severe weather events.
If I were in charge of the city’s future, I’d be working hard to get additional residents, especially young renters, into the Historic District economy.
But as long as hotels are incentivized and high-density residential developments are discouraged by our outdated zoning ordinance and other public policies, we’re going to see more hotels and more tourists relative to the number of residents.
The residential rental market is solid and still improving
We seem to have seen a shift in homeownership patterns around the country and here in Savannah. Even though home prices might be at or near their bottom, it seems likely rental markets will remain strong.
Additional residents in midtown neighborhoods will certainly help neighborhood retail development and will likely improve public safety. Those neighborhoods could then become even more desirable.
Owners of single-family homes frequently resist the presence of additional renters, but it seems better to embrace the new realities than to resist them.
The public sector and nonprofits have always had a role to play in Savannah land use
When James Oglethorpe laid out the city, he set aside trust lots on the east and west sides of the squares for public buildings, especially houses of worship.
Local governments own a great deal of property throughout the city, and local voters have consistently approved sales-tax funding of infrastructure projects.
Public sector stewardship has been a crucial part of Savannah’s past and will be one key to a successful future.
We still have a long way to go
Whatever one thinks of each of these projects individually, it’s good to see so many underutilized and blighted properties being put to better use.
At the same time, the greater downtown area is dotted with prominent properties that are contributing nothing to Savannah’s economy or culture.
In part, we are still fighting the population loss that dominated much of the city’s 20th century history.
In part, we are trying to overcome several decades of poor planning — a key reason for the population loss in the last century.
In part, we are also still struggling to overcome the ongoing fallout from the recession that officially ended almost three years ago.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net and http://www.billdawers.com. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga. 31401.