GAINESVILLE – Another downtown Gainesville site is about to undergo rehabilitation.
The Gainesville City Council gave unanimous approval Tuesday evening to a request by Peach State Bank & Trust to be awarded Tax Allocation District (TAD) funding to renovate an old gas station adjacent to the bank’s downtown location.
Peach State plans to use the historic service station building at 332 Spring Street SW as the new site of its mortgage lending division.
Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey told city council members, “Peach State has bought the old gas station at the corner of Spring and Academy, and instead of tearing that down and putting their mortgage services into a new building they decided to renovate that building, which we are really thrilled with.”
Currently the bank uses the third floor of its main building for mortgage lending services according to Lackey. “So I think…they are going to move them down there and give them visibility. So I think they’ll have a better location, a more prominent location, an easier location for customers to find them.”
Last month the TAD Advisory Committee recommended approval of Peach State’s application. According to that application the total project cost is just over $690,000 with $400,000 of that being having been used to purchase the approximately 1/5-acre site.
Peach State plans to do $63,540 of work that qualifies for TAD reimbursement including demolition, site work, landscaping, sidewalks, and parking lot lighting. Since those items benefit the general public they fall within TAD guidelines and are eligible for TAD reimbursement.
“It’s going to retain the character of downtown with that one piece,” Lackey added, “and they are going to make it look even better.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/9/938550/old-filling-station-to-be-renovated-become-loan-office-for-local-bank