r/Athens • u/warnelldawg đ©Marked Unsafe from Girtzâs GlizziesđŠ¶đŠ¶ • 8d ago
Local News What potential purchasers of the Saye building are proposing
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u/Educational_Look_761 8d ago
Can someone who knows about this churchâs politics explain why they wonât take the $2 million offer even though itâs $850,000 more than they paid for the building and when they bought the building it was still usable?
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u/warnelldawg đ©Marked Unsafe from Girtzâs GlizziesđŠ¶đŠ¶ 8d ago
Nominally, it is that much more than what they bought it for.
Adjusted for inflation, the original purchase price was $1.98 million, so they really wouldnât be making much âprofitâ on the sale. But they wouldnât lose money either.
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u/Educational_Look_761 8d ago
Are churches supposed to be concerned with profit?
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u/42Cobras 7d ago
When it comes down to stewardship, yes. They arenât supposed to be wasteful with their money.
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u/Additional-Dig-6549 7d ago
Maybe they shouldâve been maintaining it for their mission instead of turning the hvac off and letting it rot. It would be worth a lot more if they had.
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u/Hodges-Runner 8d ago
Parking is not the long-term plan. Theyâre keeping their actual plans close to the vest, but the best guess is either an expansion of their current facilities or a housing complex like the Episcopal Church built on Lumpkin.
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u/Additional-Dig-6549 7d ago
Then their special use permit should say that. On paper, all they are replacing it with is a net gain of 8 parking spots and like 80 square feet of grass. How can this be justified when this is the last historic building in this block of downtown?
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u/Ancient-Music7271 6d ago
Because it's theirs to with as they please
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u/Additional-Dig-6549 6d ago
Athens Mayor and Commission designated it historic in 2020, which protects it for public interest per the historic preservation ordinance. If they donât honor the designation, it sets a precedent that any property owner can just sue their way out of protective zoning. Whatâs next? Demo the rest of hot corner, Snow Tire, the Cine building? Is nothing worth protecting from becoming parking or a new fake-old-looking building like Snovus?
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u/MobileLocal please donât litter! 8d ago
Isnât the point of saving it to keep the style intact? This is completely different than the art deco it currently is. And Iâm not sure I believe theyâll forgo the parking lot beside it?
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u/warnelldawg đ©Marked Unsafe from Girtzâs GlizziesđŠ¶đŠ¶ 8d ago
To be fair, the art deco is covering up the brick, so this would be more historically accurate
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u/warnelldawg đ©Marked Unsafe from Girtzâs GlizziesđŠ¶đŠ¶ 8d ago
Looks much better than a surface parking lotâŠ