Down in Thomasville, an old school building on Chatham Drive is getting a second life. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs has awarded the Balfour School Apartments project a $1,215,000 annual allocation of competitive 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, clearing a big hurdle for turning the historic school into homes.
The award was announced Oct. 7, according to a release from the Thomasville Community Development Corporation, which is working on the project with Tapestry Development Group.
The Balfour School property sits at 201 Chatham Drive. The nonprofit puts the full project at about $18 million and says it will turn the former school and the land around it into a mixed-income neighborhood.
The first phase calls for 40 apartments. Some will be carved out of the historic school building itself, and the rest will be new construction designed to fit alongside it. About 84% of the homes will be set aside for households making 60% or less of the area median income, which the release puts at $51,540 a year for a family of four. The rest will rent at market rates.
Housing tax credits are generally claimed each year over a 10-year stretch, which is why the award is stated as an annual amount. Investors buy those credits, and the money they pay goes into building the project. That's why a 9% award matters so much: it's often the biggest piece of the financing.
The nonprofit says the apartments are meant for working families, giving the examples of a single teacher with three kids, or two parents who both work in food service.
"This has been an extraordinary team effort- with Tapestry bringing their best-in-the-field knowledge and TCDC bringing deep local connection," said Shan Daniels, the organization's board chair. Daniels also credited the City of Thomasville, the Thomasville Housing Authority and Thomas County Schools as critical partners, and said, "Their continued partnership will be critical as we move into the next phase."
Not their first one
This is the Thomasville CDC's second tax credit award. The first went to the Douglass School Senior Apartments, which the group says is under construction now and expected to be finished in summer 2027. So this is a local outfit that has already taken one old school through financing and into construction, and is lining up a second.
Daniels said the group hopes Balfour will help bring in more money for things like parks, green space and walking trails around the neighborhood. "We expect this project to create a ripple effect that strengthens the entire neighborhood and enhances quality of life for both existing and future residents," Daniels said.
What this kind of job looks like
Anyone who's worked on an old building knows a school conversion is a different animal from a new apartment complex. Jobs like this can mean big classroom spaces that have to be divided into apartments, old corridors, and whatever surprises are hiding behind the walls. Running new plumbing, electrical, HVAC and fire protection through a building that was never designed for 40 kitchens and bathrooms takes planning and patience.
Then there's the new construction on the same site, which has to look like it belongs next to the old school. That means the crews on this job will need to work both sides of the fence: careful renovation in the historic building and conventional building next door.
The release didn't name a general contractor or give a construction start date, and we couldn't confirm either one elsewhere.
Why it matters for Contractors
Tax credit awards are the moment a lot of affordable housing projects go from a good idea to a real job, so this is the time for South Georgia contractors to start paying attention. A mix of adaptive reuse and new construction calls for a wide range of skills: demolition and abatement, masonry repair, window work, framing, MEP, drywall, flooring and finish carpentry. Contractors with old-building experience may find their skills in demand here. Keep an eye on Tapestry Development Group and the Thomasville CDC for word on a builder and a start date. And with Douglass School already under construction and Balfour lined up behind it, Thomasville is building a track record of turning old schools into housing.