THOMASVILLE — The next owners of much of the area at the old Southwestern State Hospital property expect to close on the purchase by the end of April, they told the Thomasville Payroll Development Authority.

The PDA also granted developers Bill Blackburn and Karl Weckwert a graduated 10-year property tax abatement on two of their four tracts at the site, after Blackburn and Weckwert laid out their plans to both retain and create state jobs there. 

Georgia Pines has signed a long-term lease with Blackburn and Weckwert to move its offices to their parcels on the Southwestern site. 

“We’ve all talked about this for our community, and I don’t think none of us wants the Southwestern campus to go dark,” Blackburn said to the PDA.

The property, since it has been state owned for decades and before that was a federal site, has not been on the county property tax rolls.

Blackburn and Weckwert have 348,000 square feet of buddings, and 276,000 square feet are in tenable condition. To use more, there needs to be a utility conversion, 

With Georgia Pines, Blackburn said, there are leases for a total of 69,000 square feet. Georgia Pines is currently in 52,000 square feet on Smith Avenue.

“They are very pleased with this project and what’s going to be done,” Blackburn said.”Georgia Pines is ready to move now.”

Blackburn added Georgia Pines does not currently have any space for additional employees and moving to Southwestern will ensure those jobs will remain in Thomas County.

“Part of this relocation is to enhance the office environment,” Weckwert said. “As we all know, it is hard to retain and attract new employees. This is an upgrade for them from their current location to attract more doctors, more certified personnel who are the fee generators for Georgia Pines.” 

Blackburn and Weckwert said their plans will both retain and bring in new jobs. There are 73 Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities employees at the old Southwestern State property. 

“I think some people thought the campus was just shuttered and completely dark,” PDA executive director Shelley Zorn said. “But if you go out there, it is pretty active. There is a lot going on out there.”

While the property currently is not zoned, there are stipulations from the state about what can go out there. One of the uses the state has prohibited is industrial, Zorn said. What the state will allow is use for commercial or residential space. it also can be used for non-profits and health care, among other endeavors.

Jacqueline Knight, who is planning on building a community for special needs people out there, lobbied the PDA to grant Blackburn and Weckwert the abatement, telling PDA members it would help her development, too. Granting the abatement allow  Blackburn and Weckwert to extend her lease payments of $1 per month 24 to 36 months out, rather than her owing them $300,000 at the end of the first year.

That, in turn, will allow Knight to concentrate on providing services and places for special needs children and adults, and not on fundraising.

“My focus is on programming on my property,” she said. “It is focused on dealing with the community needs we have with special needs adults and children.

“There are some easy lift programs that we can do immediately. That’s what this does for us,” Knight added. “This is how this abatement can help the community, We can immediately bring 200-300 people into programs within the first six months.” 

Knight’s plans call for a 67,000 square foot building, in five phases, providing space for 135 residents and 118 jobs. Many of her residents also will have jobs

“Every single one of the people who lives in our community will have to work,” she told PDA members. “Everybody who works out there will be spending their money in the community. If you give them a tax abatement, it immediately benefits us.”

She also can provide 35 beds to the state.

“Right now, they have no place to put them, except in jail,” she said, “which is not exactly the right thing to do.”

Also by next summer, Knight plans to have after school programs and summer camp programs for special needs clients. 

“This is so necessary,” she said. “We have a population who don’t vote, so we don’t hear from them. They don’t have a voice. I am trying to give them a voice and I need your help. We stand here about to do something wonderful in this community and in this region. i think this tax abatement will help me do what I need to do.”

The PDA also put in clawback provisions on the tax abatement for the development to meet job creation and retention. 

“I think what I have been waiting for is to hear some concrete plans on what your’e going to do,” PDA chairman Mark NeSmith told Blackburn and Weckwert. “It’s been very sketchy, and I know you’ve been working on it. I think that’s what the board has been looking at, what are you specifically going to do on this parcel and what kind of jobs are we looking at. I feel good about what I’ve heard this morning, personally.”