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Update March 18, 2025

This is an update from Keep Athens Local

We wanted to share a quick update on the proposed redevelopment of the President’s House property at 570 Prince Avenue.

On March 9, Keep Athens Local sent a letter to Mayor Kelly Girtz requesting clarification about the zoning process and how the application had been handled to date. The letter raised concerns about whether the proposal had followed the procedural requirements of the Athens-Clarke County zoning ordinance. You can read that letter here.

On March 16, we received a response from Athens-Clarke County’s Planning Director Bruce Lonnee stating that the applicant has withdrawn the proposed Planned Development application for the property and that there is currently no development application pending for the site. You can read the response here.

While this is an important update, there are still open questions, including if and when a new proposal might be submitted, and whether any future application will follow the process required under the local zoning ordinance. And of course, there are the critical questions of what the Board of Regents will now do with the property: will they follow their own regulations on disposing of such valuable historic properties, and will they consider less intensive, more creative proposals in keeping with the unique character and location of this property?

For now, we will continue to monitor the situation and will keep everyone updated if there are any new developments.

Update January 16, 2026

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