Developer Pace Burt shows Flats at 249 to Albany young business owners

ALBANY — Pace Burt’s logic is irrefutable.

“To get something going in a community like ours, you can’t do that same bull of sitting around for 20 years, waiting for something to happen,” the developer said Thursday. “You have to make things happen.”

Burt, who is in the demo stages of transforming the former Albany Heights building at 249 Pine Ave. into the mixed-use Flats at 249 development, took another step in that making-things-happen process Thursday when he welcomed 20 young business leaders to the development site to discuss retail expansion possibilities.

Young entrepreneurs who have established themselves in the dining, entertainment, real estate, nonprofit and several health-related fields came to the downtown site at Burt’s invitation to tour the facility and listen to the developer talk about his unique approach to tying their specialties into downtown development and into increased use of the Flint River and greenspace surrounding the river.

“We were just winging it, showing some of our local business owners what will be available with this development,” Burt said. “We mainly invited business owners who have been successful in Albany, Georgia. They’re the local people who have put in the sweat to make things happen in the community, and they deserve the opportunity to benefit from their work.”

Burt’s offer likely would have to be intriguing to business owners, regardless of whether expansion into the downtown district had been on their radar before he bought the Albany Heights building that his family previously owned for $50,000 and started turning it into the first serious residential development in the downtown district.

He told those gathered Thursday that he would allow them to utilize space in the loft apartment complex rent-free.

“What we’re doing is giving these business owners an opportunity to be a part of bringing downtown Albany back,” Burt said after the meeting. “The ones who commit to the project can get with our architects and let them know how much space they want to utilize. Then, they can use that space, basically as is, rent-free. However, if there are specific amenities they need for their business, we can design it and do the renovations for them.

“We would, of course, expect to be compensated for that work, but it allows the businesses the opportunity to really get some skin in the game. And, since the improvements that may be needed can get expensive, let’s say someone does $40,000 worth of work to get their space the way they want it, we’re giving them the opportunity to pay that back at, say, $1,000 a month. In 3 1/2 years at that rate, have everything completely paid off. There would be no further rent or any other kind of payment.”

Kris Morrill, a certified crossfit trainer who owns and operates World Camp Fitness at 2722-6 Dawson Road, said he has already begun talks with Burt about expanding his operation to include a facility in the Flats at 249.

“I think you can say that, while nothing is official, we are definitely in talks,” Morrill said Thursday. “I think Pace has some great ideas about moving into the downtown district, and I’m blown away by the response he’s gotten here this morning. We would definitely keep our current facility, but I can see us expanding here.”

Restaurateur Bo Henry, whose successful Harvest Moon restaurant was one of the first businesses to open in the downtown district after the Central Business District went through a complete overhaul in the 1980s, said getting Burt involved in downtown development is the right move for the city.

“When you look at redevelopment, it’s always the chicken-egg thing: You need residents downtown to support businesses, but you need businesses to draw residents downtown. Someone’s got to be first,” Henry said. “You look at what Pace is doing and the microbrewery (being built by Dr. Tripp Morgan’s Pretoria Fields development arm) just down the street, and you can see momentum moving in the right direction.

“I’ve always wanted to make a move back downtown, and Pace’s involvement in this project is the kind of thing that will bring people here. You’ve got a hometown guy who cares about his community, who lives in the community, and these kinds of developments are what he does. He’s the best at it, and that’s the main reason I believe it has a great chance to be a success.”

Burt said the low cost of the property, plus the credits he’ll receive for creating a low- to moderate-income housing development, are the primary reasons he can offer inexpensive expansion opportunities to local business owners.

“The potential here is phenomenal,” he told the entrepreneurs. “The greenspace out there and that river … those are the kinds of things cities build themselves around. Albany hasn’t done that. I look at the growing interest in mountain biking, yoga, rafting, running … young people are putting balls away and getting actively involved in personal fitness.

“I don’t see why we can’t make that happen here. I’m like a bull in a china shop; I’m ready to get on a bulldozer and make this happen now.”

The developer also told the business leaders that he’s willing to donate $25,000 to anyone who can put together a bike trail program that would tie into the greenspace around the river.

Burt said he hopes to, barring unforeseen issues, start moving commercial tenants into the Flats at 249 development by “late summer.”

“There’s about another month of demo work to go,” he said. “I’ll order all new cabinets in the next 30 days, and our window person is coming in April 4. We’re moving forward. It’ll be toward the end of ‘17 before we’re ready to start bringing tenants in.

“I encourage everyone to check out my Facebook page. There are constant updates there.”