augga706

The city of Augusta was ranked by MSNBC last week in the top 9% of employment growth in the USA and the top 20% in recession recovery. Development Authority of Richmond County Executive Director Walt Sprouse said in a press release, “The Augusta area continues to put up impressive numbers concerning the local economy. Augusta is (a) the 23rd Strongest Economy in the United States, (b) the 6th Strongest Building Market for Housing in the United States, the 21st Best Housing Market in the United States, (d) 79th out of 392 metro areas in the United States for Economic Health during the nationwide recession, and (e) #36 out of 392 metro areas in the United States for Employment Growth. Our inquiries at the Development Authority are at an all-time high, thanks to these strong economic factors and Augusta’s excellent workforce.” http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/local/65983562.html

It seems alot of Augusta's posters are on city data. There is still tons of construction in Augusta going on. Alexander road will recieve $9 million to widen the road. Several office buildings going up in West Augusta along perimeter pkwy and wheeler road. There is a new restaurant and knology building going up in West Augusta along wheeler rd and walton way ext. The Johnson building downtown has been purchased, it will be turned into retail/residential.The Kroc center on Broad street in Harrisburg starts construction in oct/nov of this year. The Kroc Centr will have a mill village across from the center. The mill village will include offices, homes, shops, and restaurants. Several houses on Broad street near the kroc center have already been demolished. Broad street burgers will be demolished and then relocate to another area of Harrisburg. MCG's School of Dentistry groundbreaking is September 30th. MCG's dorms are under constructon near Paine College. The Fairfield Inn on Gordon hwy in South Augusta is open for business. ''The Gateway'' the walmart strip center on Grovetown's I-20 exit is almost complete. The $30 million American tire facility is still under construction in South Augusta off Gordon hwy. Aiken revamped their old train depot in their downtown. There is still massive construction on I-20/I-520. The Palmetto pkwy in North Augusta is coming along with construction. Exit 5 on I-20 in North Augusta is becoming a very hot area in terms of growth. I think Thomson's, Grovetown's and North Augusta's exit 5 since it has two exits. All these I-20 exits will look similar to the Augusta exchange area in West Augusta in 7-10 years. The Westobou festival starts today. A ten day Arts festival in Augusta, over 100,000 people showed up last year. There is a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Westobou. Experience Augusta's arts scene at Westobou *{sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} ajc.com

In a sign of progress for the local economy, Mercedes-Benz of Augusta opened its new showroom today. The expansion at Washington Rd. and Patriots Way is a $5,000,000 project. Several employees have been added too, and there are more service bays at the dealership now. Group One Automotive of Houston now owns the dealership, which employs about 80 people.

New condos and retail space are planned for the former Woolworth building, which has been vacant since 1992. Atlanta-based Redstar Development will begin renovations this summer, possibly in July. The $2.5 million project includes 15 second-floor condos and street-level retail space. The renovations should take 10 months, said project manager Vince Williams. The developers are "talking to big-box tenants," but they will most likely split the 20,000-square-foot retail space into four or five spaces, he said. The development company has completed similar projects in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami and Baltimore. Condos slated for Woolworth building

Plans to redevelop the Laney Walker-Bethlehem neighborhood. The city of Augusta is investing millions in new homes and retail space. The move is intended to revive an historic district and drive in tourist. That's where the new redevelopment plan comes in, boasting new and renovated homes. There are three components. "One is security," said Chester Wheeler, director of Housing and Community Development. "We'll have decorative fencing on the front. We'll also have sidewalks that have trees. We'll have rear alley entrances for garages so that individuals can move into their garage and into the house. The last component is commercial retail. We'll have housing on the top, and retail on the bottom." $37.5 million in hotel/motel tax dollars will make it all possible. "It's an extremely important initiative for our city," said Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver. He went on to stress pre-approval. Demolition and construction is expected to begin in March along Pine Street. New homes have already started to emerge along Holley Street. Augusta commissioners have approved spending $750,000 a year for the next 50 years on inner city re-development. Work begins on $37 million, "long overdue" inner city overhaul

- $1.5 million to replace fire alarm monitoring system, asbestos abatement and cooling tower at East Central Regional Hospital in Gracewood. - $6 million to design a Consolidated Medical Education Commons at Medical College of Georgia. Perdue's budget has MCG project

The St. Sebastian Way project will connect River Watch Parkway to the medical center. Fly-over bridges will cross the canal.

Not to mention the green building, the emporium, and 100,000 for paving the sidewalks downtown specifically broad street. Downtown's growth is going very good. The crane you saw is part of the St. Sebastian way. The project is only 30 million dollars. But when I ride downtown the project has about 7 cranes to itself. Three cranes on riverwatch pkwy, 3 on broad street, and 1 right infront of the medical district.

There was reason to celebrate this past Thursday night on Broad Street: We saw the continuing wave of new private investment in downtown Augusta. Several out-of-towners have become valued community partners COMING ON THE heels of ESi, Toole Engineering and R.W. Allen's renovations, Metro Construction Group realized their dream of restoring the former J.B. White building exactly one year to the date of beginning. The building, which has sat vacant for more than two decades, is now one of the most spectacular multi-use redevelopments we have ever seen. The project -- which houses residences, offices, restaurants and retail -- will set the bar for future development in downtown Augusta. What you probably know is that the developers are from Atlanta. At Thursday's grand opening, it was announced that they were enrolling their children in school for the fall and moving in the building this weekend until construction of their homes are complete. What a statement that makes. Two outsiders saw the greatness of our city. Welcome home to the Loudermilks and the Raeisghasems. There will be more reason to celebrate in the near future. Harry Kitchen of the Foxfield Co. will bring a new 60,000-square-foot, Class A office building out of the ground on the city's Pension Property. We have not seen new upscale construction in downtown Augusta since the early 1990s. This multi-use project also will include a new hotel and luxury condominiums. Finally, we welcome Cortland Dusseau from Birmingham, Ala. What you probably know is that he is the hotel developer for the new multi-use project near Augusta Common. This new project will contain not only a hotel, but condominiums and retail space as well.

Traffic officials have built Richmond County's first roundabout on Scott Nixon Memorial Drive as part of a larger project to connect the road to Wheeler Road. Mason McKnight Parkway, as the new road will be called, is currently under construction and will be the new thoroughfare for several commercial developments planned near the Richmond and Columbia County line. It will feed traffic to several new stores, including a 67,768-square-foot outdoor retailer called Gander Mountain and a 24,488-square-foot Northern Tool & Equipment. Development in the area has also led traffic planners to consider extending the nearby Frontage Road to the roundabout on Scott Nixon Memorial Drive but plans are still being discussed, according to Steve Cassell, a Richmond County traffic engineer. At least eight other locations have been discussed for roundabout intersections. Mr. Cassell said he has been in talks with officials from the Medical College of Georgia and Paine College for a project near Druid Park Avenue and Laney-Walker Boulevard, he said. Officials call new circle safest traffic option Crews have installed Richmond County's first roundabout intersection on Scott Nixon Memorial Drive. The roundabout is being billed as safer and more efficient for an area that will see commercial development.

July 31 opening set for White's Building The renovated 80,000-square-foot building will contain 51 condos and first-floor commercial space. The White Azalea restaurant and Casablanca Cafe coffee shop are scheduled to open in early August. A vintage clothing store will also be a tenant, according to the owners, Atlanta-based Horizon Group Investments. Construction of the third- and fourth-floor condos could be completed by the end of the year. The white's building will have 80 condos in all.

It will be a 180,000 square foot building with a 67 million dollar price tag. The proposed center would sit along Walton Way and James Brown Blvd. Construction is set to begin late this december. City leaders hope to finish the project by December 2010. http://www.wrdw.com/politics/headlines/24083499.html

The Downtown Development Authority's plan to spend $37,000 in special-purpose sales-tax money for a trolley study received mostly positive reviews from Augusta commissioners. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/07080...ge=2#commentnav I would like some sort of highspeed rail like a monorail. But a trolley system is a start.

Nice pics. I was downtown last night and the streets were jammed packed. There were alot of people from cities in south carolina and georgia who came to augusta last night. I found some more pics from last night activities. The Fourth of July fireworks show lights up the Augusta skyline.

Last week's lane shifts on the route to downtown Augusta are the early signs of the three-year, $30 million St. Sebastian Way highway project that will connect the city's medical centers to River Watch.

Downtown Atlanta and Savannah better watch out. Augusta's downtown is coming for the best downtown in georgia in the next few years. Downtown Augusta going through redevelopment boom Enterprise mill a 236,000-square-foot textile mill was transformed into high-class offices and apartments. It was a $20 million dollar project. Now Clay Boardman the developer behind that project. Has plans to redevelop the sibley, and sutherland mill. Also the william robinson school. Sibley Mill Project His plans are to turn the 516,000-square-foot Sibley into a larger version of Enterprise, a mixed-use facility with office, retail and residential space. With the $30 million Kroc Center proposed directly across the Augusta Canal, Mr. Boardman sees Sibley as the first step toward revitalizing the surrounding neighborhoods. The Sibley project, whose final price tag could run as high as $50 million. By then, his two other adaptive reuse projects -- Sutherland Mill and the William Robinson School -- should be completed this fall. Sutherland Mill project With Sutherland Mill, a $7 million project, Mr. Boardman is creating medical offices in the 50,000-square-foot structure. Unlike most medical office space, the "medical condos" at the Sutherland building will allow tenants to own their spaces and customize them as they see fit. The building is bordered by Walton Rehabilitation Hospital, Enterprise Mill and the Salvation Army. The St. Sebastian Road project, which will extend the street across the canal and in front of Sutherland, will link the area to the medical district. "We've already talked to three or four large physicians practices," Mr. Boardman said. "There's no longer any land for them to buy around the hospitals." William Robinson project The William Robinson School in the historic Summerville district will be converted into 27 luxury townhomes through a partnership with Mr. Boardman's brother, Braye, the president of Beacon Blue LLC. William Robinson project cost is $7 million

Plans for the new downtown Augusta library were approved Tuesday by Augusta Historic Preservation Commission Chairman Mark Lorah. Among the changes are those to the front entrance, which will be constructed with limestone instead of black granite, as originally proposed. Major changes also have been made to the Greene Street side of the building to make it more compatible with houses in that area. The $22 million building at James Brown Boulevard between Greene and Telfair streets will be built with special-purpose sales-tax money with oversight by the city's project manager. Library in downtown Augusta

New shopping center coming to Aiken Aiken, SC -- You'll soon have some new places to shop and eat in Aiken. A new retail center is being built on the southside of Aiken just off of Pine Log Road. The "Strategic Retail Group" is building the 9,000 square-foot development, and officials say they the center will include a restaurant and high-end retail stores. Travinia Italian Kitchen has confirmed they will lease a space, and officials say they are looking for other retailers to fill spots. Construction should be completed by this Fall.

Construction in cities of evans, grovetown and martinez Ronald Reagan Drive in Evans will extend this summer into a proposed multi-use development, but it won't immediately serve as a connector between two busy roads. storyPhotos(); The developers of Marshall Square, a 52-acre planned-unit development between Evans Town Center Boulevard and Industrial Park Drive, intend to build a road bisecting the development. The new road, placed directly across Ronald Reagan Drive where it intersects Evans Town Center Boulevard, will eventually bear Mr. Reagan's name when it meets Industrial Park Drive on the opposite side of Marshall Square, according to county officials. Columbia County also has plans to expand River Watch and William Few parkways. The state Transportation Department is buying rights of way to extend River Watch Parkway down Petersburg Road and then to Washington Road across from the intersection at Town Center Boulevard. DOT officials estimate the project will cost about $65 million. The extension will provide an alternative to Washington Road for drivers traveling between Evans and downtown Augusta. The DOT also plans to extend William Few Parkway to Hardy McManus Road as part of a $23.7 million project. On the other end of the parkway, where it meets Columbia Road, county officials want to extend it to Chamblin Road near the new Grovetown High School. Officials hope this extension will ease traffic on Chamblin Road once the high school opens

Major growth coming to the city of Grovetown Retail project's plan includes hotels The Gateway is a stretch of property bordering Interstate 20 at the Lewiston Road exit near Grovetown. The consulting firm of Jordan, Jones and Goulding recently completed a master plan for the 2,500-acre Gateway Town Center concept. THE PLAN The master plan includes two "big-box" retail stores, four smaller retail spaces, three mixed-use buildings, two hotels, a town square, a theater complex, a museum, a multipurpose building and an arena surrounding two small lakes. Consultants envisioned the Gateway Town Center as a pedestrian-friendly center with a design concept called "new urbanism," which refers to multifunctional developments supporting residences, businesses and recreation. Work continues on the interchange of Lewiston Road and Interstate 20. Columbia County has approved a master plan for the Gateway project, a mixed-use project at the I-20 exit.

Plans for the new kroc center going forward. 112,000-square-foot social service complex off Broad Street. Once completed, the glassed complex would include park and greenspace areas, classrooms, worship and conference space, offices for dozens of arts and social service groups, a 500-seat performing arts center and chapel, and many other amenities. The center, which could open in 2010, also will include a full-sized fitness center with a gym, aerobic, weight and fitness training equipment; and an aquatics center with swim therapy programming, a waterslide and splash park and lap lanes. The project will also have a full-time construction manager moving to Augusta from Atlanta on July 1, when Maj. Bruce Jones, who has been involved in other Kroc Center projects, will arrive. A side project that has emerged during land acquisition involves the potential rehabilitation of some of the older Harrisburg homes that occupy the Kroc Center site. "There are 26 landowners total, with 19 homes," he said. "We learned it would cost $8,000 apiece to demolish them, but found out they can be moved for $5,800 apiece." Mr. Dugan is working with local engineer Rick Toole and the Historic Augusta Inc. group to find money to move the homes to nearby lots in Harrisburg, where they can be renovated and maintained and returned to their use as homes for deserving residents. Discussions also are under way to involve the nearby Sibley Mill in the project. The vacant mill is under option to businessman Clay Boardman, who hopes to restore the site for housing and other uses, as he has with Enterprise Mill a few blocks away. Also the james brown townhomes are going up on 9th street. There was a crane that i saw just earlier this week. I didn't have a camera though with me. If somebody goes downtown could you take some shots. And some recent shots of the whites building on broad. The james brown townhomes are on 9th. Make a right onto 9th if you are coming down walton way or a left if coming down laney walker. Im going to try and take some next time im downtown.