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On Tuesday morning, the LaGrange Housing Authority asked the county for funds to help build a parking lot for a small housing development on Revis Street.

Most of the funds for the development have come from a $1.6 million grant awarded in 2023, but by the time the funds were passed and construction was complete, there was a gap to finish the project, specifically, parking for the residents and sidewalks.

Housing Authority Director Zsa Zsa Heard asked the county, and plans to ask the City of LaGrange to step up and help out with funds to finish the project.

The development consists of four houses or four duplexes, which Heard referred to as a quadplex. The houses include a one-bedroom, a two-bedroom, a three-bedroom and a four-bedroom home.

The development still needs a parking lot and sidewalks to make it safe.

“Our residents would have to back out of their driveway right into the street, and we want to avoid that and put a parking lot behind it so that they don’t have to back out where there are kids,” Heard said.

Heard requested that the county contribute $128,000 to help close the funding gap. The housing authority plans to seek a similar contribution from the City of LaGrange.

“We want to keep it safe, and we want to keep those rents affordable at 80 percent of market rate,” Heard said. “We want to make sure it’s safe more than anything, and for the kids. Even though Revis is a smaller street, they shoot up and down that street like nobody’s business.”

The housing authority is also hoping to connect the sidewalks to The Thread, the city’s multi-use trail, which runs through the neighborhood. 

Heard said they would also accept any in-kind support that the county could offer.

“The gap was $128,000, but the housing authority will also take any in-kind. So, if the county does put in sidewalks or if they’ll do the grading, we’ll take that as well,” Heard said. “I’ve already talked to Mayor [Jim] Arrington and several of the councilmen, so I’ll be going next week as well. It could be a joint effort between the county and the city.”

County Manager Eric Mosley noted that an intergovernmental agreement between the county, city and housing authority would be needed for the arrangement before any funding could be approved. He suggested that some SPLOST dollars could potentially be used, as the parking lot and sidewalks would serve a public purpose.