Holley & Pearson-Farrer LLP served as disclosure counsel to Chatham County, Georgia and the Downtown Savannah Authority, an instrumentality and public corporation of the State of Georgia, in connection with the issuance of $67.4 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds. Our firm also served as counsel to the underwriter of the bonds. The bonds were issued to finance the construction of a new judicial complex for Chatham County operations in Savannah’s downtown Historic District.
The project is anticipated to include a four-story building with a partial basement consisting of approximately 155,000 square feet of space for courtrooms, including four state court rooms, eight superior court rooms, a large, multiparty courtroom, and expanded jury seating, jury rooms, and administrative spaces for judges, clerks, and court staff. The building will be constructed adjacent to the existing courthouse in Savannah’s downtown Historic District. The new complex is anticipated to improve judicial operations of Chatham County. The project commenced in 2021 and has been slated for completion in 2024.
The judicial complex project was approved pursuant to a Chatham County 1% special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) referendum. Chatham County agreed to make payments on the bonds pursuant to a lease contract with the Downtown Savannah Authority and covenanted to annually budget for the lease payments and exercise its power of taxation to the extent necessary to make those payments.
Our attorneys have been heavily involved in the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Savannah through multiple unique bond-financed projects, including Enmarket Arena, the Chatham County judicial complex, extensions of the Savannah riverfront and riverwalk, streetscape improvements and new pedestrian access points for the riverwalk and River Street, multiple parking garage projects, and improvements to the Veterans Parkway freeway connecting greater Chatham County to downtown Savannah.