18 minute read
Cover Story
HOUSING MARKET HEATS UP
It’s August, but when Troup County realtors say “It’s hot,” they aren’t talking about the weather. The local housing market has been sizzling for several months, and the present demand for housing far exceeds supply.
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Home prices have surged. Rentals are super tight. New residential construction often sells before the slab is poured.
Existing homes can attract multiple offers, some higher than the listing price.
Observers can’t help wondering if Troup
County and its cities of Hogansville,
LaGrange and West Point are on the cusp of a long-anticipated growth boom.
Nobody’s counting chickens, but leaders believe current conditions point toward accelerated development.
“A lot of things are in the hopper. The demand is there and may have put us on the verge of strong growth,” said Troup County Commission Chairman Patrick Crews. “Now more than ever, the opportunities are definitely there,” Hogansville City Manager Jonathan Lynn agreed. But whether it’s a boom, a mini boom or, as leaders would prefer, a healthy rate of sustainable growth, a combination of factors is driving the current demand for housing. LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton suggests several, including low interest rates, an abundance of jobs, millennials deciding to become homeowners, expanded community amenities and even the Covid pandemic. “Covid caused a lot of people to reevaluate what they want out of life. Things that had been out of fashion are back in fashion. Opportunities to telecommute or work remotely are creating a boom for communities like LaGrange that have a lot of desirable qualities.” The challenge, Mayor Thornton said, is that building costs have surged here, as they have across the nation. “We need more housing. The demand is definitely there. The problem is that construction costs have never been higher. It’s hard for builders to know what to do.” Just how tight the market is can readily be seen with a look at the Georgia Multiple Listing Service (MLS) numbers, said Ashley Langford of GO Realty, current president of the Troup County Board of Realtors. On July 1, a shockingly low total of 62 homes were listed for sale in Troup County. In previous years, she said, that number typically would be several hundred. Even more telling, in the $150,000 to $299,999 range, where demand is highest, just 18 homes were listed. “It’s definitely a seller’s market,” Langford
said. “There were 867 single family homes sold through MLS in 2019 and 991 in 2020, despite the pandemic.” So far this year, 509 homes have changed hands and another 144 were under contract. The numbers could be much higher, Langford believes. “There are tons of people who would like to sell to take advantage of the hot market, but they won’t sell because there’s nowhere to go.” Ben Yates of Coldwell Banker Spinks Brown Durand Realty agrees. “We’ve got the demand. This area is poised to do really well. It’s happening. We need developers.” The housing shortfall has intensified recently, but the issue is not new. A 2019 housing study commissioned by the Troup County Center for Strategic Planning found the lack of appropriate and varied new housing options was one of several reasons thousands of out-of-town workers choose to commute to work here rather than move to Troup County. With about 10,000 jobs created since Kia opened in 2009, Troup County has gained double its “fair share” of employment opportunities, but housing construction during that time has been roughly half of what might be expected. This created what the researchers described as a supply/ demand mismatch. “Expanding the range of housing options in the county will ‘grow the pie’ of the local housing market, capturing unmet demand and allowing for accelerated population and household growth,” the study concluded. Area government leaders say they have done their part and are ready to ‘grow the pie.’ Realtors see signs that development is coming. “We have a plan in place. Growth is coming, and we are ready for it,” said Hogansville’s Lynn. “The future is bright,” said Yates. “Infrastructure is in place. Appraisals are up. We are going to need housing with the jobs that are coming over the next five years. If we ever have an opportunity, it is now.” The following pages spotlight the housing scene, community by community.
HOGANSVILLE
Hogansville Mayor Bill Stankiewicz smiles when he notes that trash pickups have increased around Lake Jimmy Jackson Park, a community recreation area. “It’s a sign of growth,” he said. “More people are using it.” Growth is a familiar word in Hogansville these days. With Coweta County “filling up,” and growing more expensive, developers have begun looking south. Hogansville has attracted tons of attention, averaging two or three developers calling every day. At least six developments totaling about 900 homes – a mix of single family, townhomes, apartments and senior little over a year. Now an expansion of 83 more homes is planned. “This is not pie in the sky,” Stankiewicz said. “We border on doubling our housing stock. Our main thing is to be smart with it. Ten years ago, we had to take what we could get. Now we can be more selective.” Leaders of the community of 3,100 say the pandemic put them on the radar of people looking to escape large or midsize cities. One selling point has been their more vibrant downtown where independent businesses, new and old, include antique shops, a coffee shop, bar and restaurants, not to mention a new city hall and library, an historic amphitheater, walking trails and the newly reopened Grand Hotel. Leaders see the soon-to-be renovated Royal Theater, formerly city hall, as a “centerpiece” and the exclamation point of their downtown plan. It also doesn’t hurt that they are 30 miles from the Amazon warehouse facility and 20 miles from Kia – all on I-85. The city’s new logo – a hummingbird taking flight – is emblematic of the hopes leaders have for Hogansville. “The pandemic taught us that you can survive locally,” said assistant city manager Lisa Kelly. “You can live where you want to live, and living here is a bargain. We are building a middle class. We are reshaping who we are. I see little changes every day. Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.”
Hogansville City Manager Jonathan Lynn LAGRANGE
A tasteful new sign on LaFayette Square reminds passersby that LaGrange was founded in 1828. The sign speaks to a lot of history, but it’s also visible evidence of the city’s very modern housing
living - have been approved. A recently completed water line extension “opened up” a sizable Bass Cross Roads area, where 169 townhomes and a 90unit apartment complex are about to take shape. Additionally, existing subdivisions that had languished for years have revived and are now building out, the mayor said. The previously dormant Villages at Huntcliffe, for example, grew from 20 homes to 80 in a
strategy: to be welcoming, a place where comfortable and affordable come home. “We spend a lot of time and effort improving the attractiveness of the community,” said Mayor Jim Thornton. The approach is working, said Nicole Smith, owner/broker at RE/MAX Results. She and other real estate professionals are fielding inquiries from “all over,” including from people with no ties to LaGrange who have realized they can work from home and no longer want to live in a large city. “They don’t want to raise their families in a big city. They are looking for a different pace of life,” Smith said. LaGrange has done an excellent job, she feels, of marketing itself as a livable, progressive city with impressive amenities and quality of life. That approach, coupled with abundant jobs and an improving school system, has created a housing market unlike any she has seen, with low inventory and high demand. The average time to sell a home has dropped from 47 days last year to 27 so far this year. Some have sold in days or even hours. A recent lakeside listing, for example, went on the market on a Friday at $349,000. “We showed it and took offers all weekend. By Monday, we had five offers, and the property sold for $30,000 over list,” Smith said. When it comes to housing, the mayor emphasizes, the city’s role is not to build but to foster a desirable environment, particularly through its zoning code and infrastructure. LaGrange recently completed a two-year overhaul of its 1972 zoning code. “We did a wholesale rewrite,” the mayor said, with the goal of being more user friendly and encouraging flexibility to reflect increased interest in cluster homes, townhomes and, to a degree, mixed use developments with neighborhood commercial and both single and multi family homes. The city also undertook a $27 million bond for water and sewer projects to maintain and grow existing resources. “More and more, quality of life amenities matter,” the mayor said. “After jobs and schools, amenities influence where people choose to live.” Projects like Southbend Park, the Thread and Sweetland Amphitheater come together, the mayor believes, “to create a place where people want to live.” Jobs and livability, plus the availability of attractive land, should boost the pace of residential development in LaGrange, realtor Ben Yates predicted. Property along Hills and Dales Farm Road is well located and the recent sale of a large tract known as “the Newnan property” will be a “game changer,” he believes. “The next three years will see a lot of development. Right now is exciting, and there is a lot coming down the pike,” Yates said.
Nicole Smith, Owner/Broker at RE/MAX Results.
“We should be encouraging housing development where there is infrastructure,” the mayor said .”We can expand infrastructure where needed but also encourage infill development and redevelopment.” As examples he cites new loft apartments in the former Dixie Mill, proposed redevelopment of the Dawson Street school property, potential opportunities downtown and near Southbend park and numerous projects of the LaGrange Housing Authority and DASH. One area where LaGrange has made significant progress is in multi-family construction. The 2019 housing study identified a shortage of high end rentals to meet needs of a growing number of “renters by choice,” households with incomes adequate to buy a home who, for a variety of reasons, prefer to rent. Complexes like the Yard on Mill in Mill Creek Station and the Exchange on S. Davis Road, along with LaGrange Heritage Senior Living on Hills and Dales Farm Road, have added several hundred new rentals, many with upscale options.
WEST POINT
Few communities understand better than West Point that the three most important things in real estate are “location, location, location.” It was the community’s location – on I-85 midway between Atlanta and Birmingham — that first attracted Kia to build its massive auto manufacturing plant there. Multiple suppliers and thousands of jobs later, West Point’s location is now touted to attract new housing development and households. Sitting nearby to Kia, Abbey Glen Apartments notes its “positioned a short driving distance from all that West Point, LaGrange and Valley have to offer.” Liberty Corporation uses similar language in marketing its Villages of Harris Creek subdivision, with four bedroom, single family homes starting at $251,000. These two large developments are helping create what Community Development Director Dennis Dutton describes as a positive trend toward more diverse and affordable housing. “The 2019 housing study found this area way behind in the number of houses,” Dutton said. “A project like Villages is a big deal for West Point.” Like other Troup County communities, West Point is experiencing an uptick in contacts from developers during the current housing boom. Existing homes sell rapidly in established neighborhoods, like Booker Hills, and another noteworthy
trend sees two non-profits rehabbing older homes for rental or sale. A well known group, Penrose Development, is partnering with West Point Housing Authority to build a transitional housing, mixed income development. A 79-unit apartment complex is going near the Coca-Cola plant. It’s also possible that condos are on the way, Dutton said. Location also plays a part in West Point’s growth strategy. With the Chattahoochee River flowing through town, leaders have focused on developing a river park and walking paths and restoring the historic depot which is near the river. It doesn’t hurt that West Point Lake is a stone’s throw from town. “We are heading to a good future in West Point,” said Mayor Steve Tramell in an interview with LaGrange Daily News. “We’re getting new jobs and housing growth.”
UNINCORPORATED TROUP COUNTY
Troup County Commission Chairman Patrick Crews is not surprised that a current housing trend is for families to move outside of cities. The county has has been experiencing that type housing growth for years. Even before the pandemic made working remotely a thing, Troup County issued at least 100 single family building permits every year since 2016. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, the number rose to 124. “And we have had 76 new permits from January through June of 2021,” Crews said. If that pace continues, Troup could see more than 150 new starts this year. “There’s strong interest in the unincorporated area. We have seen some really good growth,” Crews said. One big limitation, he points out, is that the county lacks the water and sewer infrastructure to attract developers. “We work with the cities to get water lines,” he said. One recent example was a cooperative effort of the county, Troup County Schools and the City of LaGrange. The school system wanted water lines for Rosemont
Elementary School, Crews explained. The county wanted to expand the Whitesville Road soccer complex, and the three entities reached an intergovernmental deal where the city agreed to run the water lines and the school system donated the old Whitesville Road Elementary School property for the soccer project. “Now fire protection will be better in the Rosemont area, and development options will open up in that part of unincorporated Troup County,” Crews said. The city will sell more water and youngsters all over Troup County will have a first class soccer facility, a big plus for residential growth. Another area ripe for development, Crews believes, is north of Hogansville, as booming Coweta spills over. The commission chairman would also like to see more options for senior citizens and some sort of condominium development on West Point Lake. “That’s something we are missing, something multi family on the lake, possibly out Mooty Bridge or Cameron Mill roads.” Building near the lake fills a need identified in the housing study without impinging on the county’s cherished open spaces. “There’s a lot of stuff on the drawing board. The demand is there, but we want to avoid sprawl. We want to keep our rural character as we go down the road, to have development but do it right and in a way we can all be proud of,” Crews said.
CHANGING THE TRAJECTORY OF HOUSING
The LaGrange Housing Authority has both a new look and a new outlook. Both are reflected in the organization’s motto: New voices, new vision, new opportunities, and in a new logo, a rising phoenix. “We love the phoenix,” said Zsa Zsa Heard, CEO of LaGrange Housing Authority. “It means rebirth. That is what a phoenix does. It is rebirth, which was needed here at the housing authority. We needed to be reborn.” The housing authority’s mission – to provide safe, affordable housing for the people who need it most – has not changed, but the way it approaches the challenge is changing big-time. The agency has set its sights on combatting blight, not just on its campuses but across the community. “This is not your grandfather’s housing authority. Times have changed and so has LHA,” said Chad Cooper, director of development and marketing. It’s easy to see the fresh look. Just drive by any LHA community. Aging 1950s-era buildings have come down at the former Benjamin Harvey Hill Homes on Whitesville Road, and Lucy Morgan Homes on Borton Street. The modernized, ecofriendly apartments are now known as The Phoenix and Phoenix Way, respectively. Another phase of the years-long process saw the construction of Phoenix Landing, a 70-unit complex which marked its first anniversary last month. Located just past the LHA complex on Whitesville Road, the Landing’s colorful exterior and amenities like a community room and craft room, exemplify the new vision LHA hopes to bring to the long-blighted area. “We’ve got to change the mindset of our residents and of our community,” Heard said. “We want to change the way people
Zsa Zsa Heard, CEO of LaGrange Housing Authority
feel about public housing and encourage people to take more control of their Iives and have pride in their community. “We really want to change the stigma of public housing and make it look more like a neighborhood. People who drive by will see something that looks like any other housing complex.” The new Phoenix Landing is targeted primarily for residents 55 and up, helping to meet a need for senior housing identified in a 2019 study commissioned by the Troup County Center for Strategic Planning. “We use the housing study to meet community needs,” Heard said. “It holds us accountable.” The ultimate goal, she explained, is for Phoenix Landing and the other improvements to be catalysts for redevelopment of surrounding areas and for affordable housing to be a central element of the transformation of a blighted area. As another way of targeting blight, LHA has also moved out into the community, acquiring dilapidated homes on Butler, Motley, Glenn Robertson and Ragland streets for rehabbing. They also plan to rehab the Jordan Crossing apartments, to be known as Phoenix Crossing and located near Tucker Cottages, a project of DASH, another non-profit deeply involved in community revitalization. When completed, LHA will have increased its inventory from 420 to about 600 units. The current high demand for rental housing is reflected in their numbers. “We have 290 on our waiting list. The list is currently closed,” said Rena Boykin, housing director. She and others on the LHA team say their work is about more than safe, secure housing. It’s about removing obstacles and barriers to success. “We have our success stories, but we want more. We push toward self sufficiency,” Boykin said. It sometimes surprises people, Heard adds, to learn able-bodied LHA residents are required to work. Most also pay rent, on a sliding scale, depending on income. The LHA has a Leadership Academy that helps prepare residents for work. They also help with childcare and transportation. And the local Boys & Girls Club is now on the LHA Whitesville Road campus. Director Sabrina Allen describes it as a “building full of potential.” “Everything we do is intentional,” Heard said. “We want to make working, productive citizens, promote student achievement and healthy lifestyles…I know it can be done. You don’t fix the system for one group. It benefits everybody.” Evidence of the “whole community”
Phoenix Landing Phoenix Way
approach will soon be evident along Whitesville Road, a busy entry way into LaGrange, long described as an eyesore. The City of LaGrange and Callaway Foundation are partnering with LHA to build a linear park, with green space and benches, as an attractive buffer between the street and the Phoenix apartments. The park will be for public use, not just the LHA community. “It will provide a prettier ride into town,” Heard said. “We want the area to be welcoming. It won’t look blighted. We want to send a message that we are changing the trajectory of the community.” Tripp Penn, president of the Callaway Foundation, said the linear park aligns with adoption of a new strategic plan for the foundation. After two decades of focusing on downtown LaGrange improvements, the trustees have established two new primary goals: to ensure that every child in Troup County has a chance for a good education and to ensure that every child has the opportunity to live in a safe, affordable housing setting. Though in the very early planning stages, Penn said, expect to see the foundation doing projects that address the state of housing. “It’s just now coming together, but we anticipate significant investments in housing and neighborhood development.” Penn expects the foundation to continue working with DASH, Dependable Affordable Sustainable Housing, the nonprofit founded by former Troup County Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe and now marking its 20th anniversary. Current DASH executive director Nate Crawford said with a smile that he was 10 years old when DASH began its work of rehabilitating homes in the Hillside community. “Our mission has not changed from when we were founded, but the way we go about it has changed,” Crawford said. The current focus is on economic development as the engine driving revitalization of neighborhoods where DASH is working. DASH rentals, including rehabbed homes, the Wilburn Apartments in Hillside, the Richard Wolfe Apartments in the former Dunson School and the Stony Ridge Apartments in Hogansville stay full and their waiting list has reached 300 . They will begin a new 44-unit senior housing complex in Hogansville this month. The current tight housing market is also evident at DASH. A rehabbed home on Lincoln Street had 12 offers and recently sold for $12,000 over asking price. They’ve also had prospective buyers from out of town. “They come to LaGrange because of affordability," Crawford said. The Callaway Foundation’s plans to focus on community housing needs offers an outstanding opportunity to continue a great relationship, Crawford said. “We hope to be a huge partner for them, using our institutional experience, in meeting mutual goals," he said.
