A proposed luxury apartment complex expansion from low-income apartment housing on Washington Road is still striving to make its way to Evans.
A rezoning request for some 15 acres of property at 4204 Washington Road from single family residential to planned residential development in order to expand The Belmont apartment complex in Evans, across from Mullins Crossing, is not scheduled to go before the Planning Commission until Feb. 3.
Developer Audubon Communities of Norcross, Ga. and C.L. Gray Enterprises of Fleetwood, N.C., the owner of the property, first submitted the request in March. During the Planning Commission’s April 15 meeting, a motion by Commissioner Al Dempsey to approve the request with conditions failed after a 3-2 vote against it.
On May 4, 2021, the Board of Commissioners voted to allow the applicants to withdraw the request without prejudice.
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Audubon and C.L. Gray submitted a revised version of the request in October 2020. In the narrative accompanying the revised application, Audubon describes its objective to transition The Belmont, formerly known as Saddle Creek on Washington, from “a tired tax credit property to a new, top of the market apartment community.”
This plan, acknowledged by the staff report, entails phasing out tax credit restrictions and investing what Audubon estimates will come to about $70 million in acquiring The Belmont, renovating its 192 units and constructing 200 new units to have a total 392 class A apartment homes.
The narrative mentions Audubon’s plan to increase its current rental rates for the tax-restricted apartment units from $890 to the market rate at over $1,200, after completing renovations. This would also be after the decontrol period, the three-year period after the apartments’ tax credit restrictions were removed, during which C.L. Gray is restricted from removing legacy tax credit residents without cause. The decontrol period ends in April of this year.
Several nearby residents attended the public hearing before the Planning Commission on Dec. 2, 2021 to express their concerns about the potential complex expansion, primarily regarding buffers and road widening, storm water runoff and traffic along nearby Owens Road.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to postpone the matter until its meeting on Feb. 3.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
