Prospects have dimmed for the Lafayette Senior Village development on Lafayette Avenue and Ga. Highway 54 West in Fayetteville that was approved by the Fayetteville City Council in June.
The development has been put on hold after the project was not selected in the current round of funding. The senior residential living project was a federal tax credit-funded arrangement routed through the Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs (DCA)
A project of the Beverly J. Searles Foundation, the development on 11 acres just west of Lafayette Avenue and Hwy. 54 was slated to occur in three phases and would be restricted to individuals aged 55 and above. All the units would require independent living arrangements, Searles representatives said.
“Unfortunately, Lafayette Senior Village was not selected for funding this round,” foundation President Philip Searles said Monday. ”We are currently working with the land owners on alternatives for the site, still senior living though. I’m pretty disappointed with the outcome but not terribly surprised; some other sites we’ve developed have gone in three times before it was funded.”
Searles said the foundation will do everything it can to keep the project alive, adding that he will try again next year to obtain funding for the 2012 round. That said, Searles noted that any future potential project on the Lafayette site is up to the property owner, Group VI.
The first phase of the approved development would have been situated in the area closest to Hwy. 54 and was to include a 120,000 square-foot building of 3-4 stories, depending on topography, that would contain approximately 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments, one three-bedroom apartment and other amenities.
Phase two would be situated immediately to the north would include a similar but somewhat smaller building at 106,000 square feet, also outfitted with a similar number of apartments. The two building will be adjacent and will share a large landscaped courtyard.
Phase three would be located on the north and northwest portions of the property and is proposed for a later date to include seven buildings with a total of 28 cottage-style attached units of approximately 1,000 square feet each.
Searles’ representatives in June reiterated that all the residential rental units would be deed-restricted with no children allowed. Residents would be allowed to have visitors for a maximum of two weeks, adding that the property would have a renters’ association. Project representatives also noted that Section 8 housing would not be allowed.
