Atlanta Business Chronicle
June 15, 2007
"The Providence Group LLC has acquired The Mansion and its surrounding area in Midtown for condominium development."

The Providence Group LLC has acquired The Mansion and its surrounding area in Midtown for condominium development.

The Providence Group bought the 2.1-acre site at 179 Ponce de Leon Ave. for $5.7 million and donated the home, originally the historic Edward C. Peters House built in 1883, to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), according to Databank Inc., a commercial real estate research firm.

The Providence Group bought the property from Bill Swearingen of SDH Investments Corp. Inc., William Dunaway and Harry Hill.

SCAD plans to spend $2.8 million over the next two years to restore the home, which most recently has been used as a restaurant.  SCAD will then use the house as a teaching facility.

Surrounding the historic house, the Providence Group plans to build the $45 million Ivy Hall, a 111-unit, four- to six-story project with condos priced from the high $100,000s to $550,000s, said Warren Jolly, co-owner of Jolly Development Inc., a division of The Providence Group.  “We’ve been working this project for almost four years,” he said. 

Restoration of the Peters House would have meant an extra $2 million.  Once Jolly’s company bought the land, he said, Swearingen was able to donate the house to SCAD, which has expertise in restoring historic buildings.

-Staff writer Lisa R. Schoolcraft of the Atlanta Business Chronicle contributed to this article.