{"id":295,"date":"2023-02-27T21:43:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T21:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/?p=295"},"modified":"2023-05-05T18:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T18:09:23","slug":"news-conference-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/news-conference-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Kelly Girtz says he is ‘positive’ Georgia Square Mall redevelopment will move forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Melanie Levi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Girtz, mayor of Athens-Clarke County, presents his Georgia Square Mall housing initiative to students and staff at the University of Georgia. Girtz\u2019s news conference was held on February 27, 2023, and took place at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. (Photo courtesy\/Melanie Levi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Kelly Girtz\u2019s proposed $189 million housing project may not ever see the light of day, despite his repeated lobbying efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential greenspace and affordable housing complex would take over the lot that the Georgia Square Mall currently sits on in west Athens-Clarke County. Girtz has proposed this million-dollar project at multiple meetings of public officials and area developers, but to no avail. His proposition has been postponed three times<\/a> due to phasing issues and tension between developing parties, but Girtz remains hopeful that his plan will come to fruition eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 7, Girtz will once again stand before Athens-Clarke County commissioners and present his housing initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I walk around like Linus with my head hangin\u2019 down, stuff tends not to happen. If I stay positive and I stay focused and I use facts, good things happen, and so right now I\u2019m focused on March 7,\u201d said Mayor Girtz in a news conference regarding his upcoming appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this news conference, Girtz referred to several other key points that he seeks to address with his project.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He plans to address Athens\u2019s housing crisis<\/a> by allotting 10% of homes in this new complex to residents with income issues. Girtz claims that these rentals will be \u201cpermanently affordable for 40 years,\u201d and potential tenants will be fully vetted by agencies like the Clarke County School District\u2019s human resources department. He intends to integrate Athens residents of various financial backgrounds through this initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girtz also seeks to fill the area with women-owned and small local businesses in order to stimulate the local economy. As far as employees who currently work at the Georgia Square Mall are concerned, he assures that they will be given opportunities in this new development as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of now, Mayor Girtz has stood before county commissioners three times with his plan. It has been rejected all three times due to what he claims to be phasing issues. On March 7, Girtz will try again to begin his long-awaited housing initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want my 10-year-old son in 10 years or 20 years when he\u2019s rolling around town to be able to say \u2018We\u2019ve got a valuable, magnetic, attractive, fun outdoor space to hangout at,\u2019\u201d said Girtz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source Info: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Girtz, he\/him<\/p>\n\n\n\n

kelly.girtz@acc.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

706-613-3010<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter @kellygirtz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Why I Wrote the Story: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I wrote this story to inform the public about one of Mayor Kelly Girtz’s extreme decisions. This million-dollar initiative will affect Athens residents for decades to come, and citizens deserve to be updated on this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Melanie Levi Kelly Girtz, mayor of Athens-Clarke County, presents his Georgia Square Mall housing initiative to students and staff at the University of Georgia. Girtz\u2019s news conference was held on February 27, 2023, and took place at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. (Photo courtesy\/Melanie Levi) Mayor Kelly Girtz\u2019s proposed $189 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,15,9,16,4],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-athens","tag-athens-clarke-county","tag-georgia-square-mall","tag-mayor-kelly-girtz","tag-uga"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/rp-melanielevi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}