Agency hears proposals for Oglethorpe block development

Plans may include a variety of uses, such as retail space or housing.

Brunswick’s Urban Redevelopment Agency heard proposals for a development on the Oglethorpe block in the downtown commercial district recently.

URA members met with two developers and heard presentations in a private session, said Mathew Hill, director of the Brunswick Downtown Development Authority and agency secretary.

Brunswick Mayor Cosby Johnson was among those who sat in on the presentations.

The tract, located where Bay Street splits off from Newcastle, has remained vacant for decades. It is currently owned by Glynn County, which had entered into a contractual arrangement with the city.

The city planned to construct a conference center on the lot in conjunction with a hotel partner, but the plan never reached fruition and the contract expired in 2019.

The city was unable to abandon the conference center plans due to obligated SPLOST funds tied up in the project until 2021, when voters passed a referendum releasing the city from the obligation.

The URA solicited proposals from developers earlier this year for a private project involving the property.

According to the initial request for proposals, “such concept plans may include, but are not limited to, one or a combination of more of the following uses: retail or commercial space, meeting space, residential housing, lodging, public park, green space or a combination of several components. The URA is not confined to a particular development structure and looks to the proposer to present an arrangement that would result in the highest quality development consistent with the city of Brunswick’s Urban Redevelopment Plan and all other applicable regulations.”

Details are still under wraps until it comes time for the URA to vote on one of the proposals, Hill said.