As he settled two bank lawsuits over unpaid loans, Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson secured a new loan from local business leader T.R. Reddy.
The $935,000 loan appears on a July 17 deed to secure debt, assignment of rents and leases and security agreement signed by Johnson and his wife, Toni, in favor of Reddy. The deed was recorded July 21 but only recently appeared in state indexes.
As with some prior business loans, Johnson pledged his Telfair Street office building as collateral. In May, Johnson put the 20,000-square-foot property on the market for $4.4 million.
Under the six-month note, Johnson must repay the loan or refinance by Jan. 17, 2026, or risk losing the office building. The gleaming brick structure opened in 2019 as headquarters of Johnson’s two office products companies, Modern Business Workplace Solutions and Augusta Office Solutions.
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Collateral for the loan includes the building, which sits on .74 acres at 1018 and 1024 Telfair street, as well as all associated fixtures, equipment, leases, rents and revenues, according to the deed.
Asked to comment, Johnson stated the loan agreement is the private business of himself and his wife. It “has no bearing on my being mayor,” Johnson said.
Reddy did not return a message seeking comment. The Indian-born philanthropist started off as an engineer for Fortune 500 companies. He founded successful Augusta-based firms such as Power Control Systems and made another fortune in commercial real estate.
The T.R. and N. Reddy Foundation, which he founded with his physician wife Niranjini, in 2023 donated $1 million to Augusta Technical College for what will be the T.R. Reddy School of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology.
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Johnson secured the loan from Reddy around the same time he settled two lawsuits filed by Wells Fargo. The bank had declared him in default on a $1 million small Business Administration loan and a $150,000 line of credit, both of which Johnson obtained prior to becoming mayor.
Additional terms of Johnson’s responsibilities in repaying Reddy are not spelled out in the deed. Sometimes known as a “bridge loan,” the short-term loan may be used to bridge a company through difficulties as it secures longer-term financing.
The July loan is not the first obligation tied to 1024 Telfair St. The new deed acknowledges several prior security deeds already recorded against the property.
The oldest lien on the site dates to 2018 with a deed to secure debt of $2.2 million filed in favor of Suntrust Bank. This lien remained active as of April and would be the senior encumbrance against the property.
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Just over a year ago a deed to secure debt in the amount of $250,000 was filed in favor of HFC Enterprises and secured by the property. HFC is an Augusta corporation formed by MAU Workforce Solutions owner Randall Hatcher.
Then in April, a security deed in favor of Queensborough National Bank and Trust was recorded with a loan amount of $200,000.
