I-TEAM: More clues emerging about secret sale of school

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The sale of a historic school by the Richmond County Board of Education to an unnamed buyer is stirring emotions and a lot of questions from families in the surrounding community.

The sale came at the same time the city of Augusta applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The plan includes building 236 units of mixed housing across from the Academy of Richmond County.

This is just a proposal – far from a done deal.

But the proposal could bring up to $50 million in federal money to Augusta with matching funds from donors.

There are valid concerns.

The Board of Education added the sale of Lamar Elementary to the agenda with no notice, giving no time for people to voice concerns before the vote.

It’s a tale of two neighborhoods, or three – as a proposed grant states to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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On the edge of Laney Walker Bethlehem along Gordon Highway, sandwiched between multiple lanes of traffic, rail lines and industry, is Allen Homes.

The 1960s public housing project sits on contaminated grounds of a former chemical plant.

The population is 98% Black with a median income of $9,500 and a median age of 14 years old. More than half of the residents are children.

Just across Laney Walker sits a neighborhood around the historic Lamar Elementary.

It’s a diverse neighborhood, both in race and age, where the median income level is just under $65,000 a year. It’s an older neighborhood but up and coming, with a brand-new coffee shop around the corner.

Inside Trellis Coffee Bar, neighbors squeezed together for an emergency community meeting.

They asked city leaders to be there.

“I think the need is to explain what happened the other night – what company purchased it,” one neighbor said. “How is that tied into what you are planning to do?”

Shell Berry, president of the Community Foundation for the CSRA, told the neighbors: “It’s a private entity that is dedicated to mixed-income affordable housing in Augusta, Ga. It is not the city and it’s not the land bank.”

The development could become a reality with $50 million in federal funding.

The Choice Neighborhood Initiative aims to revitalize distressed neighborhoods, like the Laney Walker Bethlehem community.

One of the requirements of the Choice Neighborhood Initiative is to identify a public housing site, according to Hawthorne Welcher, director of housing and community development for the city of Augusta.

Quarterly updates reveal the city struggled to find a site to relocate families from Allen Homes.

The site of Lamar Elementary eventually made its way into the final plan, which the mayor signed off on in November.

The plan showcases two- and three-story townhomes and an apartment building surrounded by gardens, outdoor gyms, a playground and even a little library.

About half of the units would handle families relocated from Allen Homes.

“I am thinking four people to a unit,” one neighbor said. “That’s a thousand people in one block right in front of us.”

Density and green space are two concerns. Another: The school still in use across the street – the Academy of Richmond County.

Board of Education policy recommends when the “board determines when property is no longer needed ... the superintendent or designee is authorized to dispose of the item in a manner most beneficial to the school system.”

ARC parents, alumni and area residents believe Lamar School is still needed specifically at the Academy of Richmond County.

They made their concerns publicly known to the board this week.

The board did not respond to the public comments or reveal the name of the buyer of the property.

Neither did city leaders at the community meeting.

“Is Augusta National the private entity that bought this?” one neighbor asked.

“We can’t disclose the party,” Mayor Garnett Johnson said.

We made a public records request to the city.

The result: An email from Rob Geoffroy to city leaders.

He is the chief property and planning officer at Augusta National Golf Club, according to his LinkedIn .

It states:

“We are finalizing the Lamar location LOI … or letter of intent … to add to this location to the CNI application.

“We need to discuss how the land is purchased and held for the intent of CNI and not have ANGC … as the POC … point of … Still a few steps to take to get alignment including how the city leads the CNI - or grant - itself. We are closely tracking the city’s own internal alignment to ensure we can keep the grant application moving forward.”

Why the secrecy behind the buyer of the property?

“As you know, real estate transactions are oftentimes private before they close,” said the Community Foundation’s Berry. “This was no different.”

The foundation is the philanthropic group partnering with city leaders and corporations – like Augusta National – donating millions to back community nonprofits and projects.

“The Choice Neighborhood Initiative is super-exciting,” Berry said. “It is big. It’s not something I think this community has the perfect amount of experience to live in. Something this ambitious, it’s going to take all of us to do it and to have a community partner like Augusta National who is intentional and respectful about the way they do things – as a partner along with the community foundation, the city and Housing Authority as well as others – will help us raise the level of expectation.”

Which is perhaps the only way they can meet the needs of two different neighborhoods.

The city has a long way to go before getting the green light on the project.

One of the bigger challenges is that Lamar is not located within the boundaries of the grant project.

Another potential problem is environmental concerns at a second additional site.

As far as a timeline, HUD must first give the green light on the development idea before the city can even apply for the grant, which has not yet happened.

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