Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah

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1 Summary Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah grew out of concern that many of Savannah s poorer, inner-city, neighborhoods were in a downward spiral. These once thriving neighborhoods were, by the 1990s, in peril. An older generation of responsible residents and homeowners were dying without leaving Wills. As a result, heirs were unable to secure funds to repair homes. Without clear title, these homes were also unable to be sold. Additionally, able children of older residents were moving from childhood neighborhoods in search of new opportunities and living environments. Public housing communities built in the 1940s were also becoming obsolete and undesirable places to live. These and other societal events resulted in property falling into disrepair, becoming vacant and being demolished if not the bulldozer, by neglect. Investment in many neighborhoods by residents, property owners and legitimate entrepreneurs came to a halt. This opened the door to a transient, less stable, population and to persons involved in the drug trade and other criminal activity. Recognizing this problem, the City began developing a neighborhood revitalization model that includes the human and financial capital necessary to revitalize distressed inner-city neighborhoods. This model has become known as Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah. The first neighborhood selected to participate in the renaissance process was Cuyler-Brownsville. Initial planning occurred in the late 1990s with implementation beginning in Experiences gained planning and implementing the Cuyler-Brownsville revitalization initiative have been perfected and adapted to other neighborhoods including Benjamin Van Clark, West Savannah and Savannah Gardens. Core and coordinated components of Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah include: building partnerships participatory planning aggressive property maintenance derelict and vacant property acquisition housing, economic and infrastructure investment green, sustainable, design Since 2000, Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah has utilized citizens, multiple partnerships, creative policies and a modest CDBG/HOME budget to leverage more than $150 million for housing and neighborhood improvements in three Savannah neighborhoods. It is also helping assemble another roughly $100 million investment for fourth neighborhood. Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah has taken root in Savannah. It demonstrates that a committed and innovative local government can play a leading role in revitalizing distressed neighborhoods. Project Description With the encouragement and support of neighborhood residents, the Mayor and Aldermen of Savannah have made the renaissance of distressed inner-city neighborhoods a priority. While the City cannot bring about the revitalization of distressed neighborhoods by itself, the support of its elected officials and residents places the City in a leadership role. Distressed neighborhoods in Savannah typically include one or more of the following characteristics: vacant, abandoned and poorly maintained property poor quality housing transient populations high crime

2 Prior to 2000, the City had developed several neighborhood revitalization plans. While these plans were a good start, the City did not begin perfecting and implementing them until This application documents the implementation of four of these plans including Cuyler-Brownsville, Benjamin Van Clark, West Savannah and Savannah Gardens. The overriding objective for each of these four distressed neighborhoods was to set in place a citizen supported process that helped arrest decline and provided the framework and incentives for investment and, ultimately, neighborhood renaissance. The four neighborhoods, while different, have many similarities. Incomes in the neighborhoods averaged about $30,000 per household in 2000 compared to an average of $42,400 city-wide. Collectively, the housing stock in the four neighborhoods in 2000 was 46% renter occupied, 32% owner-occupied and 22% vacant. Savannah Gardens was 63% renter-occupied, 37% vacant with no ownership. Property values in Savannah Gardens were only about $1,000 per unit in 1999! In the other three neighborhoods, home values averaged about $58,000 compared to about $100,000 citywide. Two of the neighborhoods included large, obsolete, public housing projects. Below is a brief description of each neighborhood. Cuyler-Brownsville is a roughly 60 square block 1 neighborhood in west-central Savannah, about one mile from downtown. It consists mainly of single family detached houses and frame row houses. It is a Savannah designated historic neighborhood. In addition to architecturally relevant housing, the neighborhood also includes two landmark structures that played important roles in Savannah s African American heritage a school and a hospital. Both had been abandoned and fallen into severe disrepair. In the mid-1990s neighborhood leaders approached the City about helping them reclaim their neighborhood. This was the first Neighborhood Renaissance undertaking by the City and has served as the model from which other Neighborhood Renaissance strategies and undertakings have emerged. Benjamin Van Clark is a roughly 45 square block neighborhood in east Savannah about one mile from downtown that consists mainly of single family detached houses, although smaller and generally less historically significant than those found in Cuyler-Brownsville. In 2000, the eastern end of the neighborhood contained a 29 acre 315 unit 1941 public housing community known as Garden Homes. Despite being modernized, it had become a crime problem for public housing and neighborhood residents. These problems were, in part, due to its isolation from the neighborhood. The early 2000 demolition, redevelopment and integration of Garden Homes, later named Ashley Midtown, into the neighborhood was the focal point the Neighborhood Renaissance plan. West Savannah is a roughly 90 square block neighborhood about one-half mile west of downtown. Like Benjamin Van Clark, it consists mainly of small single family detached wood frame and concrete block houses. It also contained Savannah s first public housing community, Fellwood Homes, built in The 25 acre 303 unit public housing site was located in the north-central portion of the neighborhood. The mid-2000 demolition, redevelopment and integration of this property into the neighborhood as a LEED ND / EarthCraft Coastal Community also became the focal point of the Neighborhood Renaissance plan. The final Neighborhood Renaissance undertaking highlighted herein is located about three miles east of downtown. The Savannah Gardens neighborhood consists of a large new public high school built in the late 1990s and 380 units of substandard wood frame housing built during World War II for 1 For consistency, the average square block size, including streets and lanes, has been calculated at 260 x560.

3 shipyard workers. This rental housing was built as demountable and was to have been demolished following the war. Unfortunately, it was sold multiple times following the war with each new owner doing less to maintain it until by 2007 it had become a major problem for surrounding neighborhoods and a terrible place for persons to live. The neighborhood is approximately 35 square blocks--of which the Strathmore Estates Apartments occupies about 14 blocks or 44 acres and provides the only housing within the neighborhood. Participation Each of Savannah s Neighborhood Renaissance undertakings has included at least 20 partners. Partners typically include neighborhood associations; non-profit organizations; authorities; local, state and federal governments; and private sector lenders, builders, developers and realtors. Each of the four neighborhoods was the subject of at least a year long planning process that involved neighborhood residents, property owners and other stakeholders before plan adoption. Neighborhood associations and residents help identify problems, propose solutions and market their neighborhoods. Non-profit organizations play a variety of roles. Some use volunteers to make home repairs for lowincome senior and disabled homeowners. Others serve as developers building and renovating housing that they either sell or rent. They also provide tenant and home buyer education programs. In one neighborhood, Mercy Housing Southeast, a national non-profit developer affiliated with St. Joseph s / Candler Hospital, was able to get the hospital to open a blood pressure and diabetes testing facility for neighborhood residents. In another neighborhood, the City partnered with a foundation associated with a local manufacturing plant to open an early child care and development center in the neighborhood. The City of Savannah, the Housing Authority of Savannah (HAS) and the Chatham County City of Savannah Land Bank Authority (LBA) acquire and/or provide vacant land for development. Both the City and the HAS also provide developers with financing necessary to leverage private investment and make new housing affordable. The City also provides funding for infrastructure and park improvements. The City has integrated its inter-departmental Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) and its Savannah Impact Program (SIP) into Neighborhood Renaissance initiatives. These programs help ensure that public right-of-ways and lots are maintained in good condition and blight free. OCS targets neighborhoods for week-long clean-up campaigns that involve neighborhood residents and multiple City departments. The Police Department s SIP provides paroled and about-to-be-paroled prisoners with supervised employment and life skill training that aids with their reentry into society. The SIP has also been used to demolish dilapidated structures. The City conducts regular property maintenance patrols and conducts Blight Boot Camps to educate residents and property owners about their responsibility in keeping neighborhoods blight free. All of these activities help build the confidence necessary to leverage private investment. Lenders provide both development and permanent financing. This level of activity and commitment helps the City s housing partners apply for and win competitive tax credits and grants. Private builders, developers and realtors invest in the construction and sale of housing and, in some instances, neighborhood retail.

4 Funding Since 2000, approximately $154.4 million has been invested in Cuyler-Brownsville, Benjamin Van Clark and West Savannah neighborhoods as part of the Neighborhood Renaissance initiative. The table below shows how these funds are distributed between various sources. City City City Housing Tax Lending Non- Volunteer Total CDBG HOME SPLOST Authority Credits Institutions Entitlement Labor Gen Fund Grants $2,594,324 $14,642,030 $11,923,720 $15,299,118 $58,051,997 $32,686,571 $18,593,649 $615,000 $154,406, % 9.5% 7.7% 9.9% 37.6% 21.2% 12.0% 0.4% 100.0% Government investment, especially to jump start a Neighborhood Renaissance undertaking, is essential. City, State and Federal government funding, tax credits and other financial incentives leverage the private and other investment necessary to stimulate housing and commercial development and, ultimately, neighborhood renaissance. Since 2000, the City has used approximately $17.2 million of its CDBG and HOME funds and program income to leverage approximately $125.3 million from lending institutions, tax credits and nonentitlement State and Federal grants. The City has also used voter approved Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and General Funds to make approximately $11.9 million of infrastructure improvements, park improvements and to acquire abandoned property. Additionally, in November 2007, the City loaned $5.5 million of its CDBG/HODAG program income and a banking partner loaned $7.5 million to a local non-profit housing organization, CHSA Development, Inc., to purchase the 44 acre, 380 unit, dilapidated Strathmore Estates Apartment community in the Savannah Gardens neighborhood. The City loaned another $1.3 million to the nonprofit to purchase an abandoned and adjoining grocery store. The apartments and store will be demolished to make way for 580 new mixed-income dwellings for renters and homeowners, neighborhood retail and new public parks. With the Neighborhood Renaissance plan for this neighborhood completed earlier this year, the City and its non-profit development partner are assembling the funds necessary to move forward with the estimated $100 million venture. The City has allocated $14 million SPLOST for Neighborhood Renaissance infrastructure and park improvements, $2.45 million General Funds for vacant property acquisition and $250,000 General Funds for an Employer Assisted Home Purchase benefit program for its employees. This program, the first of its kind for a local government in Georgia, provides City employees with up to $6,000 in down payment assistance to purchase a house in renaissance neighborhoods. The City has also adopted an Enterprise Zone (EZ) for the redevelopment of the Fellwood Homes site in West Savannah. The EZ will provide developers with property tax and other financial incentives totaling approximately $1.6 million over 10 years. A similar EZ designation is planned for the Savannah Gardens neighborhood. Measurable Results Benefiting Community & Local Government The City of Savannah s objective of stabilizing and then bringing about Neighborhood Renaissance through building partnerships; participatory planning; aggressive property maintenance; derelict and vacant property acquisition; housing, economic and infrastructure investment; and green, sustainable, design is working. Building partnerships is key to success. Each renaissance neighborhood includes at least 20 partners. These partners bring different skills and necessary resources to the Neighborhood Renaissance process.

5 Partners typically include neighborhood associations; non-profit organizations; authorities; local, state and federal governments; and private sector lenders, builders, developers and realtors. Participatory planning from the outset has enabled the City to implement plans with near unanimous support from neighborhood residents and property owners. Participatory planning importantly provides community partners with a sense of ownership and pride in the plan and its implementation. The City and its development partners also benefit from frequent attendance at neighborhood meetings. The planning process has benefited from the Georgia Urban Redevelopment Law, which enables cities to adopt Urban Redevelopment Areas and develop Urban Redevelopment Plans (URPs). URPs are also one of the components used to establish Enterprise Zones. With the insight of neighborhood residents, the City broke some URPs into mini-urps (MURPs) that focused implementation on small, manageable, areas of a neighborhood. This was done to create a critical mass of activity, noticeable success and neighborhood excitement. The City and its partners have also conducted community design charrettes and established citizen advisory committees both of which have resulted in improved neighborhood designs. This care to involve community partners enables the City to acquire, when necessary and without opposition, abandoned property using Eminent Domain. Eminent Domain is a valuable tool, to be used very judiciously, to acquire and clear title of abandoned property that would otherwise deteriorate and hurt neighborhoods. Aggressive property maintenance to reduce blight is essential to the Neighborhood Renaissance process. Toward this end, the City created a Derelict Rental Property ordinance in 2008 and integrated Operation Clean Sweep, Blight Boot Camp and the Savannah Impact Program into Neighborhood Renaissance. Since 2005, these programs have resulted in noticeable change including the removal of 238 tons of trash and debris. They have also resulted in towing and/or making operable of 1,330 junk vehicles and the repair and/or demolition of 1,304 structures with code violations. Dilapidated and vacant property acquisition is critical to successful Neighborhood Renaissance. One of the first major steps in revitalizing a distressed neighborhood is acquiring abandoned and severely dilapidated property so its future use and development can be controlled by those revitalizing neighborhoods. Recognizing the importance of property acquisition, the City allocated $2.45 million General Funds into a revolving account that is used to purchase vacant and severely dilapidated properties. Abandoned Charity Hospital Acquired & Renovated Into Housing

6 These funds have helped the City and the LBA acquire 190 vacant properties in the Cuyler-Brownsville and West Savannah neighborhoods. It s involvement in the acquisition of the 44 acre 380 unit dilapidated Savannah Gardens apartment community for redevelopment into 580 units of housing, neighborhood retail and public parks was the City s boldest acquisition to date. Housing, economic and infrastructure investment in the four neighborhoods, as demonstrated above, has been impressive and a sign that Savannah Neighborhood Renaissance is working. The City of Savannah estimates that approximately $154.4 million has been invested in the development and or repair of 1,281 dwellings 2 and in the improvement of infrastructure and green space in three of the neighborhoods. Above New Houses and Homeowners Replace Vacant Lots Below Dilapidated Row Houses Acquired and Renovated The fourth neighborhood, Savannah Gardens, is poised to see 580 new mixed-income dwellings for buyers and renters replace 380 dilapidated apartment units at an estimated redevelopment cost, including retail, of approximately $100 million. Some of this $100 million is likely to include NSP, ARRA and other shovel ready economic stimulus money. Both the West Savannah and Savannah Garden master plans include new parks and space for neighborhood retail. This investment has already 2 This does not include privately financed repairs that resulted in 1,304 properties being brought into compliance with property and housing codes as a result of property maintenance code violation citations.

7 created many construction jobs and resulted in the construction of a new laundry mat in one neighborhood and a general store in another. It also resulted in the City partnering with a business to develop and sponsor an early child development daycare and learning center. Above Left Neighborhood Above Center General store Above Right City partners with based construction workers opens to serve neighborhood local corporation to develop and build new houses residents support early child development daycare and learning center Below Left City funds Below Center City funds Below Right City funds new infrastructure improvements new public neighborhood parks parks on old public housing site Green, sustainable, design has become an integral part of the Neighborhood Renaissance planning and implementation process supported by community partners and the City government. The new development being constructed on the old Fellwood Homes site in West Savannah, now called Sustainable Fellwood, is enrolled in the LEED ND pilot program and will receive both LEED ND and EarthCraft Coastal Communities certification. The Savannah Gardens development will receive the EarthCraft Coastal Communities certification upon its completion. Toward more affordable, sustainable, development the Mayor and Aldermen appointed a task force to identify and recommend solutions to regulatory and other barriers impacting affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. The task force report, completed in August 2008, was recognized by HUD for its innovation and recommendations. Many of its smart growth recommendations including increased density, smaller lot sizes, flexible setbacks, right-of-ways, street width, reduced parking requirements, encouragement of mixed-use, etc. are being incorporated into the City s new zoning ordinance. Replication While some partnerships and financing tools may change from community to community, the Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah program can be replicated in other communities. Having the sustained support of the community s elected officials, from one administration to the next, is critical. So, too, is having competent and dedicated local government staff and community partners including neighborhood leaders, non-profits, authorities, institutions and private business.

8 Innovation Innovative local government policies and support leverages tremendous private investment necessary for the reclamation of distressed inner-city neighborhoods which is good for residents, property owners and the community as a whole. Savannah benefits from a local government that is willing to take calculated risks, bold action and is not paralyzed by fear of failure. The City s ability to develop a fluid, rather than static, planning, implementation and funding strategy is innovative and has strengthened each successive Neighborhood Renaissance plan. Creating multiple partnerships and involving residents and stakeholders throughout the planning and implementation process to ensure participant buy-in is innovative and key to success. So, too, is the use of multiple funding sources public and private. The City s introduction of SPLOST and General Funds into the Neighborhood Renaissance process for infrastructure improvements, acquisition and down payment assistance is a good example. These help leverage impressive amounts of private and other investment. The City s insistence, beginning with Sustainable Fellwood and Savannah Gardens, that Neighborhood Renaissance include, wherever possible, LEED ND or EarthCraft Coastal Community certification is another example of innovation. Finally, the City s commitment to include sustainable, smart growth, development standards in its zoning ordinance is another indication of Savannah s innovation. Long Term Sustainability Improvements made under the Neighborhood Renaissance Savannah initiative are taking root and should last. Work in the first two renaissance neighborhoods, Cuyler-Brownsville and Benjamin Van Clark, began in the early 2000s and continues to progress well beyond initial investments. West Savannah revitalization activities began in the mid-2000s and it, too, is progressing nicely. Savannah Gardens is also off to a very exciting and promising start. The financial and human capital invested in these neighborhoods along with the continued support of local government will make it possible to sustain these important improvements improvements that benefit neighborhood residents, property owner, other stakeholders and the community at large.