Here’s what the Macon-Bibb County mayor pays for his downtown loft

Does Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert pay the same amount in rent as everyone else in the lofts?

That was a question posed to us by a reader through Macon Me Curious, a project of the Center for Collaborative Journalism in partnership with The Telegraph and GPB Macon. Macon Me Curious takes questions from the community and assigns reporters to find the answers.

The question, asked by a reader who wished to remain anonymous, may stem from a social media rumor that the mayor is paying cheaper rent at the lofts located on the hospital’s downtown campus. There’s also another rumor that Reichert is planning to move to Monroe County.

Both of those rumors are untrue, said Chris Floore, assistant to the county manager for public affairs.

Reichert moved into the Lofts at Navicent earlier this year after selling his residence to his daughter. He’s staying in the loft until he finds a home to move into in Macon, Floore said.

How much the mayor pays a private entity using his own money is not a public record. But Floore told The Telegraph that Reichert pays $1,800 a month for a single-bedroom apartment.

That’s in line with a recent listing on apartmentfinder.com for a one-bedroom unit at the Lofts at Navicent that was going for $1,950 a month. According to the Lofts at Navicent, a one-bedroom apartment starts at $1,330 a month.

The developer for the Lofts at Navicent is Sierra Development, Inc. Sierra Development also is behind similar projects such as the Lofts at Mercer Village, Lofts at Tattnall and Lofts at Bass.

What are you curious about? Let us know at www.macon.com/curious.

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 11:02 AM.