Presbyterian Village Athens Set For December Opening

Presbyterian Village Athens, the large complex under construction between Hog Mountain Road and U.S. 441, plans to open its gate in December for a phased move-in of residents.

The continuing care retirement community has contracts on 94 percent of the units, according to Alex Patterson, president and CEO of Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, and residents will move into those units over several months, beginning with the December start.

“We don’t have it nailed down to the exact day yet,” Patterson said of the date for moving in. “However our current schedule of construction has us completed in time to move people in in December.”

Patterson said he is working with the Georgia Department of Transportation on possible changes to the traffic patterns on U.S. 441 to handle traffic from Presbyterian Village Athens.

So far, GDOT has rejected installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Lavista Road and U.S. 441, according to Patterson. The main entrance to Presbyterian Village Athens will be across from Lavista Road.

One option suggested by GDOT, Patterson said, is a pair of special U-Turn lanes on U.S. 441, one between Lavista Road and Hog Mountain Road and the other between Lavista Road and Wild Azalea Lane.

Only right turns would be allowed from the Presbyterian Village Athens exit and from Lavista Road under this plan, Patterson said.

In a more than hour-long interview last week, Patterson covered a range of topics, including upcoming plans for a $15 million bond hearing for the project, the project’s exemption from property taxes, and the nature of contracts residents sign for entry to Presbyterian Village Athens.

For more on the story, with a video of the entire interview with Patterson and a drone-shot video of the construction project, please go to Oconee County Observations.