Historic Macon: Redevelopment of Cherry Street building a success

Three years after a revolving fund was put in place to help downtown Macon increase the number of owner-occupied residences, a once vacant property on Cherry Street has been redeveloped and is home to three loft owners and a hair salon.

The building at 551 Cherry St. was “in terrible shape” when the Historic Macon Foundation bought it in 2013, said Ethiel Garlington, the foundation’s executive director. “The roof was caving in. The floors were rotting out.”

A dean at Mercer University, a retired couple and a young professional who works for Navicent Health each bought a loft at an average price of $121,000, or $142 per square foot, Garlington said. Signature Salon, which has a location at Bass Road, bought the commercial storefront on the first floor in April.

The foundation was able to buy and develop the building in 2014 after getting support from The 1772 Foundation, the E.J. Grassman Trust, the Peyton Anderson Foundation and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to establish the $500,000 revolving fund. The goal of the fund is to establish a core of homeowners and attract private developers to build such dwellings, according to the release.

Money from the fund is used to acquire and redevelop a property. Upon the sale of the property, the money is returned to the fund to acquire the next property.

Historic Macon estimates this project helped create four permanent jobs as well as more than eight jobs during its construction, the release said.

The next building to be developed with the revolving fund has not yet been chosen, but Garlington said the foundation is looking for a building of similar size and condition.

“Finding a building downtown has gotten harder since we were last shopping,” Garlington said. “It’s a good sign because it means there are more developers with their eyes on the market.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Historic Macon: Redevelopment of Cherry Street building a success."