City awards Bill Cooper Construction rural workforce housing project
Dec. 6—TIFTON — Tifton city council has partnered with Bill Cooper Construction to begin development on rural workforce housing.
During a special called meeting Dec. 4, city council members unanimously agreed to award the project to the local contractor, working with them to create 150 homes more affordable for Tifton's workforce residents.
The city has been pursuing this project since late September, when it was announced that the Georgia Department of Community Affairs was offering a grant for use in creating more affordable housing for people in the workforce.
Were Tifton to apply and successfully receive funding from the grant, they would be able to earn a maximum of $2.5 million, as planning and zoning director Crystal Gaillard explained.
With this funding, the city plans to lay down the infrastructure, such as water and sewer systems and the roadwork, and contract a developer to build the houses. As the developer would therefore not have to pay for this infrastructure, the purchasing price of the houses would end up being much lower.
Gaillard reported that she and city manager Emily Beeman had submitted a Request for Project to local developers Sep. 29 asking to see their best ideas for developing this housing, and had received two submissions.
Bill Cooper Construction had proposed their 150 detached houses plan on a 40-acre tract located on Whiddon Mill Road, while Magnolia Design & Build had submitted a plan for 72 attached units, akin to townhomes, on 5.61 acres, located between Central and Love Avenue and 26th and 28th St.
Cooper Construction had estimated sales prices between $165,000 and $245,000, depending on square footage, and Magnolia had determined their max sales price to be $179,000, with a max square footage of 900.
A review committee, composed of community stakeholders of various backgrounds in housing assembled by Gaillard, had examined the two plans, with the majority ruling in favor of Cooper.
Gaillard reported that regardless of the council's decision, both tracts would need rezoning to complete the projects.
Mayor Julie Smith stressed the urgency of needing to make a decision then and there, stating that they still needed to apply for the grant and that city had already missed a chance on this funding. Not voting at the meeting would likely cause them to miss out again.
Vice mayor Jack Folk made a motion to approve Cooper's plan, with Smith making a rare second, and the project was unanimously passed by the council.
