May 27, 2024
From the President:
Civic Center Redevelopment
Last Thursday, May 23, the City Council held a workshopwhere Jay Melder, the City Manager, provided an update on the future of the Civic Center redevelopment. The City Manager presented three options for council members to review and share with their constituents. The final vote on which option to move forward with is currently scheduled for June 27. Additionally, pricing was also provided for each of the options.
These are the three options presented to the council by the City Manager:
Option One--retain both the arena and Johnny Mercer Theater, build underground parking, and restore four blocks of residential. Cost $135-$165 million. Annual revenue from property tax and Mercer operations--$3-5 million.
Option Two--Follow the complete Urban Land Institute plan--cost $130-160 million (New theater is $130m of this.) annual revenue--$5-7 million.
Option three--keep Johnny Mercer Theater, demolish arena and sell remaining land and make residential--cost $90-120 million, ($60 million to renovate Johnny Mercer Theater) with annual revenue $4-6 million.
You can read the full presentation given by the consultants and City Manager here. (The cost for each of the three options begins on page 130.)
The Board is still reviewing the data from our recent survey concerning this redevelopment. We received 303 survey responses with many comments. You can review the raw data here. The Board is scheduled to meet on June 6th to review the survey and options being proposed by the City Manager.
David McDonald
President
Downtown Neighborhood Association Savannah, GA Inc.