Georgia: re-adapted hospitals boost neighborhoods.

Obsolete but historic hospitals can be an eyesore or an opportunity. Two communities in Georgia have re-adapted abandoned medical facilities to boost neighborhood revitalization projects.

Savannah project wins award

Retooling the historic Charity Hospital was central in Savannah's plan to bring new life to the Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhood. Beginning in 1997, the City listed the old neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places; then it contracted with Mercy Housing, a national nonprofit housing developer, to provide affordable multi-family housing.

Heritage Place Apartments, which opened in 2002, now provides 88 affordable housing rental units to low-income families. In December 2005, Mercy Housing opened Heritage Corner and Heritage Row, a collection of 70 more homes located on sites scattered throughout the development.

Recipient of numerous awards, Heritage Place Apartments most recently won an Affordable Housing Finance Readers' Choice Award for "Best Master Planned Community." Combining affordable housing, historic preservation, and neighborhood revitalization, the development is an excellent example of what can be accomplished through the collaborative efforts of local government, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, philanthropists and other community groups.

Decatur hospital makeover anchors community resurgence

Rehabilitation of the historic Scottish Rite Hospital became a critical part of the City of Decatur's 1997 plan to revitalize the Oakhurst Neighborhood. The city sought a developer to provide new single-family housing for the community, refurbish the Oakhurst Business District, return some property to the tax rolls, and provide a community center for South Decatur.

Progressive Redevelopment Inc. (PRI) and the Housing Resource Center (HRC) responded. Central to their vision was the adaptive reuse of the Scottish Rite Hospital and its two wings. Planners also proposed construction of 14 new accessible apartment units for clients of the Shepherd Center (who have temporary or permanent disabilities) as well as new single-family affordable homes.

The completed renovation of the hospital provides 22,000 square feet of commercial office space for both non-profit and for-profit tenants, including the YWCA of Greater Atlanta, the Community Center of South Decatur, an art gallery and an optometrist. The property is fully leased.

This project, which has pumped life into both the Oakhurst community and the Oakhurst business district, cost about $5,000,000. Funding came from Regions Bank, a Federal Home Loan Bank EDGE loan, Dekalb County CDBG funds, Historic Tax Credits, a Housing and Urban Development 811 grant, and owners' equity.

This article was written by Sibyl Howell, regional community development manager at the Atlanta Fed.