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City has record year in 2022 for affordable housing initiatives, exceeds goals
SAVANNAH (Feb. 2) – The City of Savannah is proud to share that in 2022, the City, Housing Savannah, and partners exceeded several key goals established in the Housing Savannah Action Plan adopted by City Council in Oct. 2021, including:
- Contributing a record $7 million to the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund - equal to the first four years of investment called for from the City in the Housing Savannah Action Plan. The 2022 investment goal from the City of Savannah called for in the Action Plan was $1 million.
- The Savannah Affordable Housing Fund also received a record $652,021 in additional non-City of Savannah investment in 2022 which exceeded the Housing Savannah Action Plan goal of $500,000.
- Housing Savannah and related 2022 activities will, when complete, benefit 923 households including 580 benefitting directly from City/Affordable Housing Fund investments. The Housing Savannah Action Plan goals had been 550 and 425, respectively.
- Housing Savannah and related 2022 investments will total $122 million, including $13 million City/Affordable Housing Fund investments and $109 million in leveraged investments. Housing Savannah Action Plan goals had been $24 million, $3 million, and $21 million, respectively.
- Formed a non-governmental organization, Housing Savannah, Inc., called for in the Housing Savannah Action Plan, to focus full time beginning in 2023 on raising awareness and money for the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund and Housing Savannah activities.
“We are extremely proud of the outcomes achieved as the result of hard work by Team Savannah, Community Housing Services Agency, the Land Bank Authority, Housing Savannah, Inc., and all of our other private sector and non-profit partners to implement the Housing Savannah Action Plan with such great success in 2022,” said City Manager Joseph A. “Jay” Melder. “Creating more housing overall and specifically more affordable housing is key to the future viability and growth of our community. We are focused on addressing this issue head on in a forward-thinking, equitable, solutions-focused way.”
Major 2022 Housing Savannah projects involving the City of Savannah and its partners include:
- Development of what will be 56 new dwellings for persons and families experiencing homelessness in Savannah Gardens (4), Dundee Cottages (40), and Cove at Dundee (12).
- Secured $16.7 million in tax credit financing and a grant from the governor’s office that will be used to renovate 108 affordable apartments located in the historic Charity Hospital, Florance Street Elementary School and West 41st Street row houses in the Cuyler-Brownville neighborhood.
- Assisted 112 renters with security deposit and other forms of rental assistance they needed to secure affordable rental housing.
- Assisted 231 lower income homeowners, many of whom are senior citizens, with home improvements.
- Assisted 58 modest income home buyers with the purchase of their first home with closing cost, down payment, and gap financing.
- Acquired 35 vacant, blighted, properties that will eventually be developed into neighborhood benefitting and affordable housing as titles are cleared.
“This was an exciting year and there is so much more to come,” said Director of Housing and Neighborhood Services Martin Fretty. “The Housing Savannah Action Plan is a blueprint for our work to address housing affordability in Savannah and our goal will be to meet or exceed the plan’s benchmarks each year.”
While 2022 was a record-setting year, the City of Savannah has already bested some 2022 goals just one month into the new year: Private donations to the Savannah Affordable Housing Fund already total $1 million so far in 2023, and the City of Savannah committed another $2 million in general fund support to the housing fund as well.
Interested individuals can follow progress being made by viewing the Housing Savannah dashboard report that is updated monthly at www.Savannahga.gov/housing.