Fairgrounds tax credit, townhomes adjacent to Daffin Park, lead a good housing week

Local leaders are clear about one thing: the coastal region is in a housing crunch. But there were signs in governmental bodies around Chatham County this week of more housing to come.

This week's installment of On Our Radar will bring news on a key update to the housing portion of Savannah's fairgrounds redevelopment, the location for a set of townhomes approved by Savannah City Council and the Savannah-Chatham County Metropolitan Planning Commission's recommendation on an adaptive reuse housing development.

Also, remember Savannah City Council approving a historical marker for the Marquis de Lafayette Trail Marker program? This installment brings an author who wrote a guide for any history buff to relive Lafayette's Savannah journey.

If you have neighborhood updates, organization events or news tips you think could be of service to Savannahians, send them to elasseter@savannahnow.com. Also reach out if there are stories here you would like to know more about. Deadline for the On Our Radar series will be the end of day each Friday.

The housing mix

Savannah City Council was in the middle of a loaded 60-item agenda Thursday when Mayor Van Johnson put a quick pause to business. He needed to announce the fairgrounds project had just received a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for housing on the site.

The award came after the city missed out on the tax credit last year, which will now enable the city to provide affordable units on the site.

When the Savannah fairgrounds redevelopment project is fully completed, it will feature nearly 400 units of housing. All the units will feature some type of affordability covenants.

Council also paved the way Thursday for more housing near Daffin Park and adjacent to Grayson Stadium. The aldermen rezoned un parcel on 0 William St. from residential single family to traditional commercial, which will allow for development of three, two-story townhomes.

A "near-identical" development is approved directly across the street, according to MPC Director of Development Services Edward Morrow. The traditional commercial zoning allows for mixed uses that MPC analysis has found the area needs a diversity of housing types, which includes "missing middle" housing such as townhomes, according to the agenda item.

The Savannah Morning News covered this week's MPC meeting, where the top item was renewed mixed-use plans at East Broad Street and East Gwinnett Street. But during the meeting the planning board provided an approval recommendation to convert existing guest rooms in a Best Western into 120-units of occupant housing.

The developer, 5th Street Capital Partners LLC, has done similar projects in Georgia. The developments typically retain hotel amenities such as gyms or pools, and one example is Skytop Studio Lofts in Rome, Ga.

The path of Lafayette, for visitors and residents alike

Lafayette, the French war general who fought alongside the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, returned to the U.S. about a year after the war ended for a tour of the states in 1884, according to the Georgia Encyclopedia. He was invited by the U.S. Congress, and the trip included a tour of Georgia.

The first stop of that trip was in Savannah, where Lafayette spent three days-- the longest stay for any city in the state. Author Larry Krumenaker in his book From River to River marks Lafayette's path of Georgia, and provides a guide for those who want to make the journey themselves.

The book is equipped with photos of each site Lafayette visited and shows his stops and parade routes on modern maps for people follow, Krumenaker said.

"Savannah is lucky in the fact that compared to other cities on his trip down here we know where everything can be located on the Savannah grid," Krumenaker said.

The good news for Savannah is that much of the features along Lafayette's stay are preserved in the city, such as the historic street grid which Lafayette went through on a parade and the Owens Thomas House where Lafayette stayed, Krumenaker said.

Savannah City Council approved the Lafayette Trail Marker in August. The marker will detail

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: On Our Radar: Fairgrounds development receives housing tax credit