A developer's

request for the Peachtree City Council to create a Seniors Facility Authority

will be considered at Thursday night's council meeting.

Prime Communities

is asking for the authority so it can issue bonds and reduce the cost

of a proposed 144-unit upscale senior apartment complex. At its last meeting,

council established an advisory committee to look into the project.

That committee

has formally recommended that council create the authority. Council has

discussed the possibility of appointing members of its Development Authority

to the Seniors Facility Authority, since they have experience with issuing

bonds to help finance economic development projects.

Committee members

Floy Farr and Jim Steinbach have also agreed to serve on the new authority

if asked.

The bond issue

would allow the average rent to be reduced from $2,600 a month to $2,200.

It would pose no risk to the city or the Development Authority and no

city property would be used as collateral, City Attorney Rick Lindsey

told the committee at a recent meeting.

Instead, the

property the apartments are built on would be used as collateral, Lindsey

said.

Lindsey also

pointed out that this is the last parcel of land in the city that could

be developed with such a project. However, there is a possibility that

other existing facilities could seek the same type of funding from the

Seniors Facility Authority. They would have to meet certain qualifications,

including being a nonprofit agency, said Norm Hansen of Prime Communities.

If Prime Communities'

project doesn't lease out quickly, it would remain a senior apartment

facility, Hansen said. He noted that the rooms were designed in such a

way that they would not appeal to families with children.

Development

Authority Chairman Tom Farr, who served on the advisory committee, said

the Seniors Facility Authority should use its own bond attorney in addition

to the bond counsel Prime Communities plans to use.

Prime Communities

has proposed a facility that will include a cafeteria and a front desk

that's manned 24 hours a day. It would also have round-the-clock coverage

from an emergency medical team and security would be a priority, according

to Hansen.

The project

would be at the intersection of Crosstown Road and South Peachtree Parkway

next to the Village Park subdivision.

Prime Communities

is set to open a similar project in September in east Cobb County, Hansen

has said, noting this type of facility is a new niche in the market.

Back

to News Home Page |