The federal government gave permission today to the Augusta Housing Authority to sell Gilbert Manor housing development to the neighboring Medical College of Georgia so that the school can expand. The question now becomes how the school will pay for it.

"I feel like I'm bringing you a Christmas present," said former Augusta Mayor Bob Young, who is now assistant deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD granted the housing authority's disposition request to sell the 15-acre site to MCG for the fair market value of $6,890,000, Mr. Young said. The property, built in 1941, is "obsolete" and would cost more to modernize than it would to build a replacement. The primary reason for granting the request, Mr. Young said, is to get the residents in better housing. The housing authority has plans to build $45 million in smaller, mixed-use developments in partnership with private developers using tax credits through the state of Georgia, said Housing Authority Executive Director Jacob Oglesby.

They are looking at a couple of sites but he said he could not disclose them yet because they are in negotiation.

The move is "a bold step to deinstitutionalize poverty in this city," Mr. Young said.

MCG is planning a new building for the School of Dentistry and to expand the School of Medicine and both will now take place on the Gilbert Manor property, said MCG President Daniel W. Rahn. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents is asking the Georgia legislature for $70 million for the dental school, which could include common areas and classrooms that could later be jointly used by the medical school. A plan for how to expand medical education in Georgia will be presented in January but Dr. Rahn said he did not anticipate the legislature will be asked to fund it next year.

The school is looking at several different options for funding the Gilbert Manor purchase, Dr. Rahn said. That includes asking the city for "as much as the city can provide," he said.

Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver said no formal request has been made "but the city is willing to do anything we can to help Medical College of Georgia expand in Augusta." That could be in the form of bonds because currently the city has little debt tied to its general fund and that would not take directly from the taxpayers, he said.

Reach Tom Corwin at 706-823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com