Upset residents raise $100,000 in opposition to Columbus development

A group of citizens upset with plans for an 84-unit apartment complex off Wynnton Road in the Midtown area of Columbus are continuing to organize their opposition.

The grassroots effort called “Help Save Hilton” has received pledges of more than $100,000 that it plans to use to raise awareness of Atlanta-based TBG Residential’s planned project on about 6 acres of land at 2551 Wynnton Road. Thus far, that awareness has included encouraging Columbus residents to put Help Save Hilton signs in their yards.

“That’s sort of what that (money) has gone to at this point,” said Tyler Pritchard, a Midtown resident and chairman of the Help Save Hilton steering committee, on Thursday. He declined to say if legal options might be considered.

“That’s not something that’s on the table at this point,” he said. “I’m not going to rule that out, because I don’t know where we’re going with it. But raising those funds and receiving those pledges for funds puts us in a position to react quickly to anything that may come up.”

Since its first meeting in early May to brief local residents and begin organizing itself, Help Save Hilton has sent an official opposition letter to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs raising the group’s concerns with the developer’s overall approach to the project and its lack of transparency by failing to involve the community in its plans.

That letter from the group was accompanied by another from Mayor Teresa Tomlinson — and with a resolution from Columbus Council members — saying the city could not recommend the development under the current circumstances, which include TBG Residential’s lack of community input and involvement.

The deadline for TBG Residential and other entities to submit an application for low-income housing tax credits related to a development was May 24. The tax credits are used during the financing process. Applicants should learn this fall if they have received approval for their respective projects.

TBG Residential’s President Kevin Buckner and Senior Vice President Brad Smith did not return calls or email requests Thursday seeking comments on the Columbus project and their application for tax credits. The company has yet to release site plans or drawings to the city or to Help Save Hilton.

“I think that’s one of the things the city had questions on is nobody had seen a site plan,” Pritchard said. “That’s one thing members of the community are concerned about is, what’s this going to look like? ... We have heard nothing from the developer. From the standpoint of Help Save Hilton, they have not tried to reach out to us at all. We would love to hear from them, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”

The property upon which the developer has targeted the 84-unit apartment complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Known as the Hilton property, it is primarily a large forested lot with the burned-out remains of a home that is bordered by Hilton Avenue, 15th Street and South Dixon Drive.

The developer originally tossed out the possibility of putting 84 senior housing units for residents age 55 and up, but backed off that after the city declined during a Columbus Council meeting to assist with the funding mechanism.

The working name for the apartment complex is Grayling Place, according to the Department of Community Affairs website. It shows there would be 10 one-bedroom units, 56 two-bedroom units and 18 three-bedroom units. Total square footage is 94,910 square feet, which presumably would not include parking and other amenities such as a clubhouse.

“Historic Columbus cannot support what we understand as the proposed development because of our concern for its high density, traffic and quality of construction,” Historic Columbus, a nonprofit organization, stated Tuesday in a note to the community seeking more monetary donations to Help Save Hilton. It said all of the money will be spent on the Midtown resistance effort.

“We believe putting 84 units on less than 6 acres will not respect the surrounding historic neighborhoods and therefore, will overwhelm them as a result of the mass and scale,” continued the statement from Historic Columbus, which also noted a petition opposing the project now has more than 1,400 signatures.

Pritchard stressed that the site for the proposed development is along a vital corridor linking the Midtown and Uptown areas of the city to the rest of the community, including major gathering points such as the public library and City Services Center off Macon Road.

TBG Residential has 16 affordable housing developments scattered throughout Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, with 11 of them multifamily complexes and five senior housing. The company has projected the $16 million Wynnton Road development could bring the city $250,000 in property tax revenue annually.

This story was originally published June 7, 2018 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Upset residents raise $100,000 in opposition to Columbus development."