PERRY, Ga. — Four years after the HALO Group bought the New Perry Hotel, they have started work on making it one of Perry's newest downtown living areas.
The sound of construction is magic to Angela Cuti's ears
"We were so excited to, on this beautiful day, see that the actual construction has started," she smiled.
The HALO Group's executive director says they bought the property in 2018 and they had a few delays.
"There’s a lot of state, federal approvals, National Historical Parks Association that have to approve to qualify the building for this type of renovation," the executive director said.
Now, they're on day one of renovations, and the idea is to turn the former New Perry Hotel into a living space in downtown Perry.
"This will be converted to 11 apartments, six, I believe, are efficiency-studio-type apartments, and the other five, I believe, are one-bedroom apartments," Cuti said.
Though the nonprofit's work centers around adults with disabilities, anyone can rent.
"Anybody who passes a background check, typical rental agreements, would be able to reside here," she explained.
Jimmy Swope is a teammate within the program who says it's been a long time coming.
"This has been a long process that we've been praying for, and we just thank God that its finally coming into fruition," he said.
Swope didn't just pray, he worked.
"The stuff off the wall. They hooked the dolly up to me and I just took everything to the trashcan," Swope explained.
Now that they're several months out from the finish line, Cuti is giving thanks.
"We all get to celebrate this together and we’re just really thankful," Cuti said.
Cuti says people are already showing interest in the units and they hope to wrap the project within six months.