Decatur City Commission Votes For DDA to Purchase Scottish Rite
Decatur Metro | October 7, 2014
The City just sent out this press release…
Decatur,Ga. – Last night, the Decatur City Commission unanimously adopted a resolution outlining their full and active support for the purchase of the Historic Scottish Rite Hospital property in Oakhurst by the Decatur Downtown Development Authority (DDA). The DDA will purchase the property from current owner Progressive Redevelopment, Inc (PRI). The City Commission originally approved an urban redevelopment plan for the property in 1999.
“The City Commission determined it was in the best interest of the City to promote the health, prosperity, safety and welfare of the community by supporting the continued viability of the Historic Scottish Rite Hospital,” said Decatur Mayor Jim Baskett. “Adopting the resolution shows our belief that this property is a unique local landmark and community resource that will continue to benefit the Oakhurst neighborhood and all of Decatur for years to come.”
“Due to the devastating effect of the recent economic recession on real estate values, PRI is no longer financially able to sustain the debt owed on the Historic Scottish Rite Hospital property,” said Lorri Mills of PRI. “DDA’s plans to purchase are really a best case scenario for everyone involved. We applaud the City Commission’s support of this plan.”
“This is exciting news for us,” said Scot Hollonbeck, board president of the Community Center of South Decatur. “We believe the purchase of this property by the DDA will secure this historic community resource and make it possible for us to continue to support community programming and activities at the Solarium .”
The Historic Scottish Rite Hospital property was the first Scottish Rite Hospital for children. Built in 1920, it was designed by noted Atlanta architects Neel Reid and Hal Heinz and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
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Good news. What is the DDA’s funding source for the purchase?
If you read the details, it says they’re going to issue a bond and repay from lease proceeds.
Can this building be turned into another Middle School? or 3-7?
3-7?
Simmer down now. Not everything in this city revolves around K-12.
But, but, that’s not what my neighbors say!?!
Seriously, I’m surprised the Dancing Goats break in thread didn’t turn into a discussion about how to turn that now broken business into a charter school.
There’s no need to be snippy.
It would mean every kid in Oakhurst could attend an elementary school in Oakhurst
So would making 5th Ave and Oakhurst back into K-5
Except I wasn’t trying to be serious
(but I can see why some are)
turn it into a B&B
have a restaurant that serves cooked breakfast
we ain’t got no cooked breakfast in Oakhurst
i could use a biscuit right about now
keep the event space rentals
There’s no cooked breakfast in Oakhurst? But gentrifying yuppies LOVE cooked breakfast. Especially on the weekend when they sleep in late and call it brunch! How can there be no cooked breakfast available when there’s clearly an inherent demand? Someone needs to open a cooked breakfast place in the ‘Khurst pronto!
Which buildings are we talking about here? Is it all of them from the corner to the parking lot on W. Hill?
If you have seen the rent roll for this project, and are also aware of the deal that the group with the Solarium lease has, you’d find out quickly that this is a poor financial deal for the city. A realistic purchase price at a market rate – given likely rents — is under one million dollars. After operating costs, the addressing of deferred maintenance, and likely rents, the citizens of Decatur will subsidize operation of this project for some time. I’m not clear as to why that is desirable.
I’m not certain why the foreclosure process was seen as such a bad thing. It would have brought in private money, relieved the city of a soon-to-be headache, and made more sense. I hope that at least there is a longer-term plan to sell once the site is stabilized, with a condition that the Solarium was off limits to any change in use. Maybe that is the reason the City stepped in? But I challenge the comment by Mayor Baskett that the City’s getting involved was the only way to assure the site’s viability. I’m certain he is aware of the development trends in Decatur.
Personally I’d have liked a say in whether this deal went through, although I’m confident the responses to that will be “you do, when you elect your commissioners.” Just saying…
“Personally I’d have liked a say in whether this deal went through, although I’m confident the responses to that will be “you do, when you elect your commissioners.” ”
Which would be the correct response. We don’t do referendums in these parts, except for sales tax increases.
“We don’t do referendums in these parts” – right, not even on bonds.
Actually, we do have bond referendums, which I failed to mention.
Make this into another school so that ghost of past kids can come and play again. This would not be a good BB if the ghost of kids are still there.