On June 25, 2015, the Mayor and Aldermen passed a resolution that gave the City Manager the authority to enter into an agreement with SRD, LLC to purchase the bulkhead and riverwalk extension now under construction along the Plant Riverside property, thus preserving the waterfront as public space and extending Savannah's existing riverwalk to the west. On December 22, 2015, the City Manager signed the agreement, where the City agreed to pay $11.4 million for the bulkhead, riverwalk and 60-inch stormwater line replacement in the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard right of way between River Street and the Savannah River.

The conditions of the sale stipulated that upon substantial completion of the project the City would pay SRD 90 percent of the $11.4 million; the remaining 10 percent would be deposited into an escrow account until the punch items had been addressed and the project was completed and accepted by the City. SRD had expected to be substantially complete with the riverwalk construction by November 2017, but due to an issue with the concrete pile caps, work on the project stopped and the project was re-engineered.

The revised plans required the demolition of some of the pile cap work, with additional structural elements added. Both the delay and the additional work have impacted the project, and SRD has petitioned the City to amend the Purchase and Sale Agreement. The Amendment will require the City to pay 40 percent of the $11.4 million ($4,560,000) now, with the project approximately two-thirds complete, and another $5,130,000 (45 percent) when the project is substantially complete. At that time the City will place $1,710,000 (the remaining 15 percent) in escrow until the project is complete and accepted by the City.

Approval