While many may have seen three decaying adjoining properties on North Board Street in downtown Monroe as prime for the wrecking ball, developer Rick Huszagh saw their promise.

"They were very, very dilapidated," Huszagh, CEO of Mountain Creek Enterprises, said of the 1910-era buildings. "The roof hadn't been fixed and the leaks had caused damage to the floors in the buildings."

Despite the buildings' condition, Huszagh wanted to save them.

"I saw opportunity for preserving a historic structure and at the same time adding an amenity to our community, which would get it closer to being a destination," he said.

Today the buildings house a two-story restaurant and a hotel. Huszagh credits the Georgia Cities Foundation (GCF) for making the project possible.

"I forgot how expensive historic buildings are to renovate," he said. "If we hadn't qualified for the Department of Community Affairs and Georgia Cities Foundation loans, it would have been very hard to justify the renovation."

 

With assistance from a low interest loan from the Georgia Cities Foundation, developer Rick Huszagh was able to turn three decaying 1910-era buildings in downtown Monroe into beautiful restaurant space and a hotel.

Huszagh said undergoing the GCF qualifying process has helped him grow as a developer.

"The process forces you to really think about all the steps and the expenses," he said. "It makes you think about how you want to turn the space into a revenue generating property; it forces a level of maturity."

Huszagh's successful project has served as a catalyst for downtown Monroe development, attracting other historic renovations and transforming Monroe into a viable destination.

"The Georgia Cities Foundation has given downtowns the opportunity to recruit and retain businesses in downtowns across the State of Georgia," said Marcia Hampton, Georgia Downtown Association president for 2010 and Community and Downtown Services director for the city of Douglasville. "The funding opportunity gives communities an added incentive to offer businesses wanting to relocate to a community. When interest rates were unpredictable in the financial markets, the Georgia Cities Foundation Program was one that local communities could always rely on as a 'true' low interest loan."

GCF's mission is to assist cities revitalize and enhance downtown areas. It serves as a partner and facilitator in funding capital projects through a revolving loan fund. While GCF continues to generate dollars for the loan fund through loan interest payments, it has also raised additional corporate, foundation and other support including a $9 million challenge grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation in 2000.

From the start, GCF has leveraged its dollars to help create tangible results.

"To date, the foundation has leveraged more than $25 million in public foundation and corporate support which has generated more than $100 million in investment," said GCF President Michael Starr. "The foundation also continues to enjoy a unique working relationship with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs."

Brian Williamson, DCA assistant commissioner in the Community Development and Finance Division, said he is impressed with the GCF loan portfolio.

"Even in the challenging times we're currently experiencing, the quality of the projects undertaken throughout the state's historic downtowns is evidenced by the strong performance of the loan portfolios of GCF and DCA," he said.

In 2001 the GCF launched the Heart and Soul Bus Tour, and each April since, the bus tour has showcased downtown revitalizations across the state to tour participants including state agency heads, business leaders, downtown developers and philanthropists.

Developer Ron Goss, who participated in the bus tour for the first time in 2009, believes the networking the tour provides is "very beneficial" and recently realized just how much.

"On the tour, we made a stop at the GEM Theater in Calhoun, a theater the city wanted to restore to its 1930s condition," recalled Goss, tapped last year to receive GCF's 2009 Renaissance Award, which recognizes an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the revitalization of one or more of Georgia's cities.

While on the tour, Goss meet with the GEM Theater project coordinator and less than a year after learning of the project, he is set to start the renovation work. "I never would have had an opportunity to do this project if not for the bus tour," he said.

While GCF's importance and positive impact is evident in the downtowns where GCF funded projects are located, the foundation is committed to exploring new opportunities to evolve and have a greater impact on Georgia's downtowns.

Last year, the USDA Rural Development's Intermediary Relending Program (IRP) approved GCF's application to receive $750,000 in loan funds to fund downtown projects in a 13-county area in Southwest Georgia. GCF also successfully competed to receive millions in federal energy funds that will be used to fund low-interest loans for energy efficient improvements in downtown commercial buildings.

Despite the current credit crunch that has sent the real estate industry reeling, Starr sees the future as bright for communities that are actively engaged in harnessing the potential of its downtown.

"Successful downtowns must create an image and a sense of place," he said. "There must be vision, leadership, and a long term plan that is flexible enough to change with the changing challenges of rehabilitation."

Goss, who has done new development and several historic preservation projects including a GCF-funded residential loft project in downtown Rome and the historic Bartow County courthouse in downtown Cartersville, agrees downtowns provide a lot of development potential.

"People love the feel of a nice downtown," he said. "They love the character - not just the architecture but the life of downtown. Even in a tight economy, your downtowns are a little safer than your new commercial developments."

Starr emphasized that local funding is crucial for downtown projects - and is actively speaking to banks and investors to assist GCF in funding viable downtown projects.

"Successful downtowns are created, they don't just happen," he said.