Cordele community celebrates Gillespie Gardens, opening a new chapter for a deeply historic local neighborhood

CORDELE, GA – Right here in Crisp County, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning for the Gillespie Gardens, Cordele’s new housing development.

The development provides 53 residences for individuals and families who are at or below 60 percent of the area median income. They will live in one of six buildings – two of which are newly constructed three-story buildings – and four historic buildings.

It also includes a community room, business center, playground and garden, and the entire community is proud of this groundbreaking development.

“One of the top issues we face as a community is decent, affordable housing,” said Cordele City Manager Angela Redding. “It is truly an honor to stand before you today as we celebrate this significant milestone of a new affordable housing development on the west side of the City of Cordele.”

The Gillespie Garden is the latest renovation proposal within the neighborhood revitalization project the city of Cordele has been working on since 2008.

Community partners and stakeholders gathered for the official opening of Gillespie Gardens, the new affordable housing development within the Gillespie-Selden Historic District of Cordele.

The development includes the adaptive reuse of four of Cordele’s most historic buildings—each individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places—as well as a newly constructed three-story building designed to complement the existing historic buildings and neighborhood.

“A key goal of the Vecino Group is to create developments that provide affordability, but moreover a community impact that really makes a difference,” said Wesley Brown, Director of Development, Southeast. “Gillespie Gardens allowed us not only to deliver housing for the community, but also to help protect and champion the rich, cultural legacy here.”

The 53 housing units at Gillespie Gardens includes a mix of efficiency and 1-, 2-, or 3-bedroom units serving individuals and families who are at or below 60% of the area median income. There is also a community room, a business center, a playground, plus a large open-air patio as well as a newly-built garden consisting of four 5ft x 20ft raised beds where residents volunteer to help maintain the garden.

The historic site for which the neighborhood is known, The Gillespie-Selden Institute, was a complex of education and medical buildings that first opened as a school for African American children in 1902. In addition to the school, the property has also included two hospitals and a church serving African Americans who were injured or homeless.

In keeping with a tradition of betterment and education, partner Blackshear Place Center provides an after-school tutoring program for students who are residents of Gillespie Gardens

Designed to serve as a central effort in the revitalization of the Cordele Historic District, Gillespie Gardens was a collaborative effort between the Vecino Group, the City of Cordele, Blackshear Place Business & Events Center, and the St. Paul Presbyterian Church.

Architecture and Design—for both historic adaptation and new build—was performed by Vecino Design, LLC with Vecino Construction, LLC as General Contractor.

The $16 Million redevelopment was made possible through an allocation of Federal and State Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) as well as Federal and State Historic Tax Credits from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, an equity investment from Enterprise Housing Credit Investments and Cabretta Capital, and construction lending through M1 Bank.

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