Downtown and inner-city Augusta going to another level (Harlem: to buy, magnet schools)

[Yogizilla]

Originally Posted by Augustabuckeye

Seems a little high. $4M for 9 condos = $450,000 each. Meaning that the developer could only make money on the rent on two retail spaces. The Augusta market will not support condo's at that price point...

Wow, that is pretty steep. You'd have to provide some major amenities to justify that cost. We need more big businesses and major employers in the area to make that a more attractive staging point, so to speak. Heck, you can buy two very nice houses for that much and own a substantial amount of land. Seems a bit unrealistic so I have to agree with Buckeye here: it's nice in theory but certainly not reasonable. Even so, I am curious what sort of businesses will join the Emporium family...

[nortonguy]

The Emporium is halfway through construction. It's supposed to be completed before the end of the year. Each residential space will have a open-air patio.

[nortonguy]

Augusta revitalization project interests musician | The Augusta Chronicle
Nationally renowned jazz trombonist and composer Wycliffe Gordon confirmed he is in talks with the city's Housing and Community Development Department about rehabbing a 109-year-old bungalow, one of a select handful on Pine Street that haven't been razed.

The plan is for revitalization to move outward from Pine Street. But first, a development named Heritage Pine has to take off. Conceptual renderings presented in meetings show about two dozen new homes, 20 restored homes and a dozen duplexes on Pine, Florence and 11th streets and Laney-Walker Boulevard.

The 43-year-old musician acknowledged that he could buy a house in the suburbs for that amount, but he's not interested in that. He's lived in West Augusta before, and though he liked the area, he didn't like the way people kept to themselves. He said he wants to be in a place like the neighborhood in Waynesboro where he lived as a child, where neighbors interact and socialize.

[nortonguy]

The Heritage Pine development includes plans for more than 40 newly built and restored homes, along with about a dozen duplexes, on Pine, Florence and 11th streets and Laney-Walker Boulevard.

[nortonguy]

Two new two-story houses on Pine Street are on the market. Chosen partly for its proximity to the black community's old business district, Pine Street is considered the first stage of the city's Laney-Walker and Bethlehem Neighborhood Action Plan.

[Yogizilla]

Those two houses are pretty nice, actually. I drove by them just a couple of days ago. You can see signs of the neighborhood slowly but surely being revitalized. It's just a shame that there are so many abandoned properties in the area. Some decent homes have just been layed to waste. Tsk tsk...

[imacrazyalbino]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Two new two-story houses on Pine Street are on the market. Chosen partly for its proximity to the black community's old business district, Pine Street is considered the first stage of the city's Laney-Walker and Bethlehem Neighborhood Action Plan.

wow, i was shocked to see that those two houses were down in that part of town. they do look very nice i must say.

[footdock]

nice houses + bad neighborhood + bad school system = empty houses

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by footdock

nice houses + bad neighborhood + bad school system = empty houses

I don't think you've actually been to Laney Walker.. Or you just might haven't seen the new developments in the area. The gentrified areas are far from being a bad neighborhood.

Davidson, AR Johnson, and CT Walker are downtown/inner-city schools too... Josey and Laney graduation rates are no worst than Harlem in Columbia county. Or the failing high schools in Aiken county.

The AP academy at Laney high school is opening this year.... Anybody from Richmond county can now attend Laney high school. AR Johnson and Davidson are both grades 6-12... CT Walker is grades k-8. AR Johnson is located on Laney Walker Boulevard across the street from Laney high school... Davidson is located downtown a few minutes away from Laney Walker Boulevard...

Davidson was the only school in GA to make the list...
Davidson Fine Arts School ranked in top 100 schools for third year in a row

AR Johnson got a silver medalist in the above article...
Johnson students study to get certified
Teen inventors walk tall with shoe

[EastsideDave]

Norton, if I'm not mistaken, Davidson and AR Johnson are magnet schools correct? Don't students have to apply before they can enroll? If that's correct, then the average person isn't going to be able to movie into the neighborhood and waltz into one of these schools.

Now, from what I heard (and again, this is neither my opinion nor fact, they are only the opinions of several people that I've talked to), the regular old public schools in the area are, to put it gently, not all that great. Again, not my opinion or an actual fact, just what I've heard others say.

There's a reason why Columbia County's population has increased by at least 16,000 since year 2000. Heck, you can even look at this forum. What's one of the most common things people ask us about when they are contemplating moving here? They ask what the schools are like.

Now, I hope I'm wrong about this, but I don't see the new homes in Laney Walker selling as fast/well as people are hoping because of a variety of reasons. Just my opinion.