WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Mayor and Council held a longer meeting Monday night, as they poured over an agenda 18 items long. Within the hours they spent in their chambers, Council announced the purchase of the city’s future homeless shelter, approved two purchase of sale agreements for the city’s ongoing downtown development project and chose between two future housing developments to receive a low-income housing tax credit.
As a final note to those in the audience Monday, Mayor Patrick announced a key move forward in the city’s work to house and assist Houston County’s homeless population: The purchase of a two-story building that will be fitted to become Warner Robins’ homeless shelter. She spoke with news outlets after the meeting’s adjournment to share more details.
“The building is on Green Street,” Patrick said. “Going towards 247, there is a little area, I call it a small warehouse district, where the two-story building is located. It’s not far from city hall, but off the beaten path a bit.”
The city’s work to purchase this building and develop a shelter began in November of 2022. Now that the building is owned by the city, it now has to go through a design and refitting process to accommodate the needs of Warner Robins’ unsheltered neighbors. The goal is to house 60 to 70 people, with space available for ongoing programs meant to help unhoused people get the tools they need to support themselves.
Patrick said she hopes to have this shelter ready before winter begins in 2023. Following this shelter for individuals, the city’s next step is to begin seeking a way to house whole families. Warner Robins is communicating with United Way of Central Georgia to ensure the success of this project
“It’s gong to be great project,” Patrick said. “The community has shown their support over and over and over again, and we’re so pleased to know that so many people are standing in agreement with us to show that here in Houston County, in greater Warner Robins, we care about all of our neighbors, even the ones who don’t have money to put a roof over their head.”
Moving into discussions over multi-family housing, Mayor and Council were asked to choose between two proposed apartment developments — Flats at Lake View II, with Zimmerman Properties, or Owen’s Landing, developed by Olympia Development LLC. The developer chosen by council would receive two points that may assist them in receiving a tax credit from the state that would lower their taxes on the developed property.
Mayor Patrick described to The Journal exactly what this means.
“We had the opportunity to hear about a potential low-income housing credit program that has proposed to build multi-family housing in the city limits of Warner Robins,” Patrick said. “What we have done, we have said ‘okay, developer, we support you on this project, and you’ve met all of our criteria, so we agree to put our points where our mouth is, and offer you two points, which is the max this municipality can offer, to move forward with their evaluation at the state level.’
“We basically said that we support this developer to bring multi-family housing to Warner Robins, to bring more work force housing to our community.”
Zimmerman’s Flats at Lake View II was the project chosen to be provided the points; the goal of inviting this development into Warner Robins, Patrick said, is to bring more workforce housing to the city.
Finally, after breaking away for an executive session, Warner Robins Council approved two purchase of sale agreements in the city’s unspecified downtown development area. With unanimous approval for both agreements, Patrick was authorized to negotiate the purchase of two properties: one located at 131 South Commercial Circle, the other located at 111 Market Street.
Speaking with The Journal after the meeting, Patrick explained that these purchases come as part of the city’s work to redevelop a downtown area. Including these properties, the city has eight acres of land they are working to redevelop.
“What we have purchased, or put under a purchase and sale agreement thus far, since this initiative started with me, we are looking to own 50% of the area we are targeting,” Patrick said. “We are talking about creating, from the ground up, from scratch, a city center for the city of Warner Robins.
“That means we are going to be building up four to five stories, [with] mixed-used, commercial retail, residential, some office space between the two, green space, meeting space, walking and biking trails, an amphitheatre — so many things to come. It’s going to be awesome when we are able to unleash our design and the name of our initiative this year.”
The agenda and supporting documents for this meeting can be found at the city’s website, or by going to wrga.gov/agendacenter. Mayor and council’s meeting are typically scheduled on the first and third Monday of each month, exclusive of federally practiced holidays.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, May 1. Pre-council will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Carolyn Robbins Room at City Hall. The regular council meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers of the same building.
HHJ News
