MACON, Ga. — Richard Geyer says he has a passion for turning under-used areas into creative art spaces.
"Everywhere you go, there are extremely talented people the question is just how to find them," Geyer said.
He has developed projects in Detroit and Atlanta and he says he saw an opportunity in the Macon Industrial area.
"People say to me 'Oh my goodness, you're going to Macon? Are you sure you're going to have enough artists?' Well based on the normal distribution I can tell you exactly how many there are," Geyer said.
The 4-acre property on Lower Elm Street has 5 buildings that he plans on turning into art studio space for twelve artists and event spaces.
"We have five buildings. We have an office buildings that we're going to use to try to incubate new businesses or new people that are going to try to do new things that are arts related," Geyer said. "Then we've got three other buildings, one's going to be a makers space, one is going to be larger entertainment venue and then one of the buildings you can see right behind me is going to be a wedding venue a place for parties."
He bought the property back in March and hopes to have it up and running before the fall.
"Once we get the approval from zoning, we'll do some more substantial work, but I would say in a couple of months we're going to be open and operating. In the meantime however, everybody's welcome to come down and look," he said.
Geyer said he hopes the space will give artists the creative freedom to develop their art.
"Macon can be a lot better than it is right now. It's got so much history it's dripping with history and talent and opportunity and promise and all I'm trying to do is open up pathways to people to be able to find that," he said.
Geyer also wants to hold outdoor music events and festivals at the site. Since it is a good distance away from residential areas, he says the noise should not be a problem.
The zoning and planning board approved Geyer's project. He still needs permits from other agencies like the fire department.