Two developers eyeing Savannah’s old arts center site (Montgomery: 2014, purchase)

[Airforceguy]

Maybe this time the city can find a developer. This site is too valuable to be sitting vacant like it currently is...

MGB Development Group, as well as Harley Krinsky and Ian Smith, recently submitted proposals to purchase the grass lot – about half a city block - at Hall Street, between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Montgomery Street, which the city reported as having a market value of almost $1.6 million last year.

In addition to the purchase price, staff will determine the best proposal by evaluating the developers’ qualifications, the proposed use of the property, the project schedule and the amount of local vendors involved. The development should enhance the area as a “safe, vibrant, pedestrian-oriented and economically thriving place,” according to the city’s request for proposals.

The city had purchased the property in 2007 for $985,000 for the cultural arts center, but issues such as parking limitations led to a decision in 2010 to move the project to Montgomery Street and Oglethorpe Avenue.

This is at least the third attempt to sell the property since last April, after a development group failed to close on a 2014 deal to purchase the site for $950,000.

The city plans to raise additional revenue for the $24.5 million cultural arts center by selling the property, after estimated costs came in higher than expected. City staffers said in December construction is expected to start in the spring.

Two developers eyeing Savannah