Negotiations with the state regarding the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Building could eventually net over $1 million annually for the Avondale Estates Downtown Development Authority.
The Juvenile Justice Building, annexed into the city after getting built, is owned by the DDA. The state pays rent to the DDA, which in turn pays the lender and manages the building. Vice Chair Sam Collier said recently, “We haven’t made money off it.”
But that’s about to change. The final bond payment is this month, after which the rent money goes directly into the DDA’s coffers. The DDA’s negotiations involve a new lease agreement with the state including how much rent it pays moving forward. Current rent is $140,000 monthly.
“If negotiations go well, it could be a good amount of money for us,” Collier said. “But how much, I can’t say. It would be irresponsible of me to give any figure. We should know more in June.”
Avondale’s DDA has changed dramatically since fall 2016, when it began getting funded by the city through an intergovernmental agreement. This invests the DDA with power, among others, to buy property, take out a bond, develop property and market the city’s downtown.
In 2018 the city is paying its DDA $78,000, about two percent of its total $3,651,473 general operating budget. The DDA still gets this money even when the Juvenile Justice rent begins rolling in, possibly as early as June.
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