Microbrewery, Albany Heights get green light from Albany City Commisison

ALBANY — Two high-profile downtown projects got a surprisingly strong boost from an Albany city commissioner Tuesday evening, moments before the full commission approved both the Pretoria Fields microbrewery and mixed-use development of the Albany Heights building.

Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell criticized opponents of both projects during a meeting prebriefing, even chastising fellow commission members who did not “do their homework” prior to Tuesday evening’s business session.

“I don’t believe in playing playground politics,” Postell said after Ward IV Commissioner Roger Marietta had expressed concern over references to the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority as both “ADICA” and the “Downtown Development Authority” in paperwork associated with the Pretoria and Albany Heights projects. “I don’t understand why anyone would come into a meeting like this and not do their homework beforehand.

“I support concreteness, not hypothetical situations. And I am against people who are against improving our downtown.”

Downtown Manager Latoya Cutts read both local and state legislation that showed the existence of both ADICA and the Downtown Development Authority as legitimate entities that shared the same seven-person board.

Ward II’s Bobby Coleman, the only commissioner to vote against either of the projects, said that while he supports development of the microbrewery, he was concerned that it had moved through the process so quickly.

“We found out about this seven days ago, and now we’re expected to vote on it,” he said. And while the Ward II commissioner said he would be “led by four votes,” he cast the only vote against moving forward with the microbrewery on property at 122-124 Pine Ave.

Saeid Sadri of Atlanta-based Novin Construction told the commission during the prebriefing that the $50,000 the company offered for the Albany Heights building was not a random figure.

“To come up with an offer, we calculated the projected income of the property once the project is completed,” Sadri said. “We had a nationally renowned consultant look at the project, and our goal was to project a 7 percent return on investment, which is reasonable. That’s what we used to determine our offer.”

The property’s value is listed at $250,000 on county tax rolls, but City Manager Sharon Subadan pointed out a number of mitigating factors in the city’s decision to accept Novin’s offer.

“First of all, we looked at the economic impact of this project on our community,” she told commissioners. “It will return to the tax rolls, Novin is making a $1.6 million investment in our downtown district, the business will generate sales taxes, it’s going to bring jobs into the community, and we will no longer be required to pay the $30,000 or so a year that we’re paying now in utilities, insurance and other costs.

“There is no perfect contract in a project like this; there is always an element of risk. But we feel the risk is worth the reward. We believe what has been presented to you is a solid plan. The risk is minimal, but the benefit will not be minimal.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the last of the year for the commission, the board:

— OK’d a rezoning application made by Chip Leveson and Tim Coley that will allow the developers to build six single-family homes on property at 605 Lockett Station Road;

— Gave special approval to a request by New True Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church for an expansion project at the 1113 Gillespie Ave. church;

— Approved alcohol licenses for Levels Bar & Grill at 234 W. Broad Ave., Walmart Stores East at 2586 N. Slappey Blvd., and the Triple Diamond Lounge 2 at 1009 Clark Ave,;

— Signed off on alcohol license transfers for The Yellow Store at 903 S. Madison St. and AB Liquor Store at 723 E. Broad Ave.;

— Appointed Linda Coston to the Albany Housing Authority and Rosemary Hamburger to the Historic Preservation Commission;

— Approved changes to the city’s traffic calming policy so that the policy is the same for streets and alleyways;

— Agreed to the use of SPLOST VI funding for construction of a pool/splash park at the Thornton Gym in east Albany; and

— Authorized a lump-sum settlement of $507,500 with Hartford Insurance in regards to coverage issues for a manufactured gas plant cleanup site.