The Mayor's Alliance to Save Historic Houses

The Mayors Alliance to Save Historic Houses (MASHH) is an initiative by Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson, the City of Savannah Property Maintenance Division, Historic Savannah Foundation, and Rebuilding Together to eliminate blight, improve public safety, promote economic development, support better land use/zoning and foster better community relations.  HSF and the City are monitoring and developing strategies to save the historic properties on the mayor's 100 Worst Properties list, the first of which came out in September 2007.  The partners meet quarterly to review progress and share information to put these buildings to productive use, which is critical to the sustainability of Savannah's eight residential National Register Historic Districts. Between these meetings, HSF has worked closely with the City Property Maintenance Division on issues as they develop.  HSF provides weekly reports to the department on the progress of houses HSF has either purchased or which are under option or contract.

A recent review of each of the properties revealed that a handful have been rehabbed by private owners, as the first 4 photos to the right reveal, and that Historic Savannah Foundation is actively pursuing public/ private partnerships to save about a quarter of them through our revolving fund and other initiatives. There is still more work to do however- about half of the original list still requires strategies for development, and unfortunately, some have been demolished.

Historic Savannah Foundations Board of Trustees has approved $250,000 from the HSF Revolving Fund to assist with acquisition of properties identified through the MASHH program.  To date, the Revolving Fund has purchased and stabilized the following properties: 

1402 Barnard Street (corner store w/apartment);

1004 E. Park Ave. (2-story Victorian w/Gothic Revival detailing);

1505 Habersham St. (2-story duplex).

Additional monies have been approved for the purchase of:

802 W. 42nd St. (1-story, 4-room bungalow);

513 W. 38th St (1-story bungalow).

Aside from the outright purchase or the facilitation of the purchase of property, Historic Savannah Foundation is partnering with community organizations to fight blight. HSF has actively partnered with Rebuilding Together, a volunteer community organization that rehabilitates the homes of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, disabled and families with children.  HSF has provided free office space to the organization, which allows them to use their limited resources more effectively.  In addition, HSF's Board Chair has been invited to serve on the ReBuilding Together board, in order to improve communication between the two agencies.  By supporting this project, HSF helps existing occupants stay in their homes in our historic neighborhoods. 

HSF has also recently initiated a partnership with the Young Architects Forum of the AIA.  Young architects have already contributed pro-bono technical assistance to 1402 Barnard Street by providing drawings as a requirement of permitting process.  In subsequent meetings, we are now formalizing a menu of technical services they'll offer through pro-bono, community service and fee-for-service.  They will also participate in homeowner training as requested.  HSF has also made a formal request for pro-bono work in helping homeowners obtain clear title from  one of Savannah's largest law firms. 

In addition, HSF is currently in discussions with Keep Savannah Beautiful and Operation Clean Sweep to provide assistance to the neighborhood organizations within our targeted historic districts, as well as pairing community service organizations within those neighborhoods to improve neighborhood cleanliness.  HSF has also made contact with the Chatham County Tax Assessor and the local Land Bank to identify strategies to bring abandoned buildings back onto the tax roles.

To keep historic properties from ever getting to the point where they make this list, Historic Savannah Foundation is working on a plan to evaluate neighborhood health and innovatively match services with needs by instituting an annual survey of neighborhood health.  This survey tool can be distributed through the neighborhood groups and will allow neighborhood organizations to participate fully in evaluating the health and needs in their neighborhoods.  This tool will allow HSF to more specifically target needed technical assistance in our neighborhoods.

The MASHH program would not be possible without a generous grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.