The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission will hold a retreat this week in Gainesville, GA at an event venue owned by Jeff Payne, a developer who is proposing a hotel at the former UGA President’s House on Prince Avenue.
The retreat is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20 at The Vault at The National, in an apartment building owned by Payne’s company, Capstone Property Group. The event venue is adjacent to a Courtyard by Marriott hotel also owned by Capstone.
“It’s sort of happenstance more than anything,” Girtz told Flagpole. The county manager’s office booked the venue a year ago, after Girtz and then-county manager Niki Jones attended a Georgia Municipal Association conference in Gainesville and noticed that the city was doing “some interesting things regarding affordable housing and public spaces,” Girtz said. “They’ve come a long way.”
The University of Georgia held up Gainesville as a leader in providing affordable housing during its 2024 Biennial Institute, an every-other-year educational program for state legislators.
Girtz said he realized the potential conflict of interest about a month ago and asked the manager’s office to look into changing the venue, but doing so would have required forfeiting an 80% deposit of approximately $6,000. He said it was a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation where he was fielding concerns about the location choice, but would also be criticized if he wasted taxpayer money by walking away. The local government is paying “full freight,” he added.
Like many local governments, the mayor and commission periodically take retreats to get away from the daily hustle and bustle so they can bond and delve into long-range issues without distraction. The agenda for this weekend’s retreat includes setting long-range goals, looking at budget projections for future years and discussing projects for next year’s vote on extending a transportation sales tax (TSPLOST), as well as touring Gainesville to gather ideas that could be applied to Athens. In recent years the commission has held retreats at Amicalola Falls and Greenville, SC.
Capstone is seeking a rezoning and waivers from the county zoning code to build a 116-room hotel behind the President’s House, which the University System of Georgia put on the market for $5 million in 2023. But the proposal has been met with opposition from Boulevard and Cobbham residents who want a smaller hotel, and ACC planners and planning commissioners largely agreed that the proposed hotel is too big at a Sept. 4 meeting. However, Payne and architects with the local design firm Arcollab argue that the number of rooms is needed to financially support underground parking meant to mitigate nuisances for the neighborhood, and to pay for upkeep for the 170-year-old house, regarded as one of the best examples of antebellum Greek Revival architecture in the state. It is slated to become a restaurant and bar with a suite upstairs.
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
