Attorney Dana Braun, representing the Housing Authority of Savannah, and Attorney Thomas Hollis, representing Atlantic Housing Foundation, Inc. (Foundation), have petitioned the City to declare surplus, and make available for sale to the adjoining property owner, a 2.323-acre section of Gateway Boulevard West. The Foundation is the sole property owner adjacent to this section of right of way and has acquired all the properties at the terminus of the road for redevelopment. 

The Foundation is partnering with the Housing Authority of Savannah to develop a proposed 274-unit affordable/workplace housing project that will incorporate the requested right of way into the project. This petition has been reviewed by Development Services, the Bureau of Public Works and Water Resources, and Real Property Services. The following conditions are noted:

• The City shall retain an easement of not less than 15 feet in width for each of the existing water and sewer mains within any area to be transferred under this petition.
• The stormwater system within Gateway Boulevard West shall be transferred with the Right of Way up to and not including the stormwater manhole at the intersection of Gateway Boulevard West and Martin Court.
• The petitioner procured an appraisal of the right of way from a state-certified and MAI-designated third-party appraiser, and the parties have negotiated a purchase price of $100,000.

State law governs the disposition of municipal real property and requires the sale of surplus rights of way be offered first to the adjoining property owner. City ordinance authorizes the Mayor and Aldermen to sell to the abutting property owners, for such compensation as may to the Mayor and Aldermen seem reasonable and just, any streets, lanes, alleys, and/or rights of way which are obsolete or no longer serve the purpose for which they were constructed.    

Approval