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ALBANY, GA -- The Oglethorpe Crossing project has been in the works for many months now, but it almost hit a snag.

Wednesday night at an Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority meeting, a representative with the development company Destiny says officials with Homerun Foods want to build an easement into a sewage line that is owned by Capital City Bank, which is next to the empty lot Homerun Foods is slated to be built. He says the bank is asking for $20,000 for the easement.

The representative says if an agreement was not meet by Destiny and the bank about the easement, he says Homerun Foods would not build, which is why he went to ADICA for help. According to City Attorney Nathan Davis, ADICA already closed on their deal with Destiny and, therefore, ADICA could not provide additional funding.

ADICA Board Member Phil Cannon stepped away from the table and says he will make a personal contribution of $2,500 to Destiny for the easement payment, saying he did not want to see a million dollar project fall apart because of a $20,000 issue.

Destiny's representative says the company will do whatever it takes to keep the project going and will pay the $20,000 so they can close with Homerun Foods as planned on Thursday at 9 a.m. He says the Homerun Foods phase of the Oglethorpe Crossing project is slated to break ground later in the week.

“It's a great project. We have a piece of property that's been off the tax roll since the 1970's, and now it's going to be a million dollar project on that vacant lot,” says Downtown Manager Aaron Blair.

ADICA has also been approached by two restaurateurs: One wants to turn the San Joe's building on Broad Avenue into a pizzeria and the other wants to make a seafood and pasta restaurant with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. Blair says the pizzeria would be open during the evenings on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Blair says the old NAPA building on Pine Avenue will be temporarily developed and cleaned up to create an outdoor art park after he was approached by numerous artists asking to use the property for painting. He says the artists will also provide items like handmade clay pots for plants and trees to decorate the area. Blair says the art park will help jump start the cultural art atmosphere in the area.