Statesboro Development News

[andremurra]

I have an answer to your Census/Urban Area questions here...

These are the urban populations of Hinesville and Statesboro according to the Census 2000.

Hinesville, GA Urbanized Area: 50,360

Statesboro, GA Urban Cluster: 26,605

Statesboro has not hit the 50,000 mark yet, so it will remain an urban cluster. Its important that you understand that just because an area is within the city limits does not necessarily make it urban, and likewise... just because something is urban does not necessarily mean its within the city limits of a place.

The "Urban Area" statistic does not acknowledge political boundaries like county lines and city limits, and are often the best way to compare the sizes of cities. In the SC forum we use the UA statistics because our annexation laws prevent our cities from annexing to a size that reflects what they really are.... for example, my hometown of Spartanburg has a population of "40,000" but an urban area of 150,000.

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Also, you guys might want to consider starting new threads for Statesboro to make finding subject areas easier. You have an impressive amount of activity for a smaller city both in terms of development and in terms of posts on UP. The problem is that reading through this thread for a specific subject can be time consuming and the subject areas cary somewhat. I'm not opposed to talking about a Statesboro subforum in the GA section at some point... you guys just need to get some more topics going first. You may want to consider an off-topic thread for political things. Just something for y'all to think about. I'll be glad to work with you in any way that I can.

Edited December 15, 2006 by andremurra

[MorganA15]

Ah, thanks for the bypass info. I was confused, with all of these different road numbers for the same road.

I know that they've been talking for over a decade about the 67 widening, but I didn't know that the 301 project has been talked about for the same length of time too.

And about the subform, that'd be great. We'd be able to have different topics for each project (or group of projects) that's going on and updates would be easier. I plan on start taking pictures of the projects and all soon too (i've been planning, but just never got around to).

Anyway, I noticed tonight that the facade is going up on the Comfort Inn & Suites addition. I expect a late January/early February opening.

[Spartan]

Thanks Spartan, that would be awesome to have a Statesboro subforum eventually. I think we just didnt want to be a pain by clogging the Georgia forum with tons of little topics, especially since most people dont consider Statesboro a key player in Georgia. As for urban clusters and all, thanks for the info. I totally understand about city proper and all that - Statesboro is only 13 square miles while most cities with similar populations are 25-30 sq mi. The City of Statesboro doesnt want to annex too many poeple and then have a hard time providing the services so theyre a little hesistant to branch out. But keep us in mind for a Subforum in the future... thanks. Ive always wondered what was up with SC!! I mean most 130,000p cities dont have skyscrapers like Columbia. How does SC justify this?

[MorganA15]

Coming Soon to the Statesboro Mall:

Kay Jewelers.

Corner spot across from The Bourbon Grill.

[andremurra]

Coming Soon to the Statesboro Mall:

Kay Jewelers.

Corner spot across from The Bourbon Grill.

[MorganA15]

Ok, so here's some other mall info.

I asked my mom if she had seen the Kay sign. She said yeah and she went on to say that the last time she went into Belks (about 2 or so weeks ago) one of the workers told her that they are planning on expanding. This doesn't surprise me, since they have so much stuff in the store, they have half of it in the aisles so you can't move in there. I remember the article in the paper earlier this summer that it was one of the top stores in the chain.

Very interesting. Maybe the mall is starting to make its comeback. They have a long way to go.

[andremurra]

Ok, so here's some other mall info.

I asked my mom if she had seen the Kay sign. She said yeah and she went on to say that the last time she went into Belks (about 2 or so weeks ago) one of the workers told her that they are planning on expanding. This doesn't surprise me, since they have so much stuff in the store, they have half of it in the aisles so you can't move in there. I remember the article in the paper earlier this summer that it was one of the top stores in the chain.

Very interesting. Maybe the mall is starting to make its comeback. They have a long way to go.

[MorganA15]

Um... Belk already expanded 6,000 sq ft when they did Belk Kids. Now they are needing more room? Thats crazy. Soon they will have their own wing in the Mall. I wish the Mall would expand.

[nova72asu]

If they expand they are required to have a consultant to do a parking study. That was a condition of approval of the parking variance that Council approved, to allow them to construct the Starbucks. At that time which was about a month ago, the person speaking for the request said there were not plans to expand at the time...I guess it is possible that has since changed. *shrugs* who knows.

i think up would be better for thier parking situation, if the mall grows much more, i would think they would need to consider a parking deck. that would be something new for statesboro.

[MorganA15]

New Development News:

Citizens Bank, a bank based out of Sandersville, GA, will be opening a 2 story building in Commerce Park. Construction should begin in May or June.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1506/

Also, there was an interesting article about GSU's College of Public Health. It will support 146 jobs and by 2020, will add $17 million to the local economy.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1511/

[andremurra]

New Development News:

Citizens Bank, a bank based out of Sandersville, GA, will be opening a 2 story building in Commerce Park. Construction should begin in May or June.

article: [url=http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1506/]

Edited December 18, 2006 by andremurra

[andremurra]

Today while driving I noticed a sizeable property being cleared at the intersection of Burkhalter and Pretoria-Rushing across the street from Brookwood and the Recycling Center. It looks too small to be a subdivision but its a pretty large tract. I wonder what it is.

[MorganA15]

I've wondered why other national banks haven't opened up in town. You would think that they would, since a lot of the GSU population is from around Atlanta. Banks such as Bank of America, SunTrust, etc are everywhere up there. I know we have BB&T, but that's only a few years old. We have one Wachovia, and it's a pain with so many people.

I have heard though, that Wachovia has considered a second Statesboro location.

[andremurra]

I've wondered why other national banks haven't opened up in town. You would think that they would, since a lot of the GSU population is from around Atlanta. Banks such as Bank of America, SunTrust, etc are everywhere up there. I know we have BB&T, but that's only a few years old. We have one Wachovia, and it's a pain with so many people.

I have heard though, that Wachovia has considered a second Statesboro location.

[MorganA15]

Talbots looks like it's on schedule. I went by there and the sign was up and some posters in the windows. I just went by there a few weeks ago and it didn't look like anything was going on.

And the Quality Inn, I noticed that they have cleared some of the rooms, such as you could see all the way through it. This might not be a bad project after all.

[MorganA15]

I came home a few minutes ago, and I went to the newspaper to see if they had updated the site from the past few days. I completely forgot that tomorrow is Business Monday, so I was surprised to see an article. Better yet, it was about the Summit Apartments.

It says how it's undergoing a $4.2 million renovation, on both the inside and outside. Should be completed in February with a grand re-opening.

I must say, I am quite impressed. I always hated that building because it was so dated and 70's looking. The new exterior, is very classy, if you ask me. I wish Statesboro could get a few more buildings with the same looks like that, even though I would prefer for it to be 8-12 stories. Statesboro needs a few mid-rises, becuase it's sad when your tallest building is only 6-stories.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1621/

[andremurra]

I came home a few minutes ago, and I went to the newspaper to see if they had updated the site from the past few days. I completely forgot that tomorrow is Business Monday, so I was surprised to see an article. Better yet, it was about the Summit Apartments.

It says how it's undergoing a $4.2 million renovation, on both the inside and outside. Should be completed in February with a grand re-opening.

I must say, I am quite impressed. I always hated that building because it was so dated and 70's looking. The new exterior, is very classy, if you ask me. I wish Statesboro could get a few more buildings with the same looks like that, even though I would prefer for it to be 8-12 stories. Statesboro needs a few mid-rises, becuase it's sad when your tallest building is only 6-stories.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1621/

[andremurra]

Wow. Im amazed that the Phase II of the new Statesboro High School lowest bid came out at $38,780,000. Thats exciting.

[MorganA15]

Did anybody happen to catch the article in the paper today (or yesterday) about the new SCVB director? She seems to have good plans to take Statesboro to the next "level" in tourism and conference meetings. Should be interesting.

[andremurra]

Did anybody happen to catch the article in the paper today (or yesterday) about the new SCVB director? She seems to have good plans to take Statesboro to the next "level" in tourism and conference meetings. Should be interesting.

[MorganA15]

Someone needs to .

[andremurra]

I dont know if it will be the largest convention held in Statesboro. Maybe the largest convention held without the help of GSU... I used to work for reservations at Georgia Southern. We regularly have some pretty large conventions that people generally dont know about. Girls State/Boys State is pretty large - the Ga State Patrol Convention - the G8 Summit Law Enforcement Workshop - Georgia Chamber of Commerce Convention - Im not sure if those are the right names for the conventions but I remember they would come every year. Also GSU's regular non-convention events are pretty large too such as SOAR which averages 2,000-4,000 and occurs about 12 times during the summer, then the open-houses are way larger than SOAR. Of course football games and homecoming events are enourmous. Graduation Ceremonies are most likely the largest single-day events held in Statesboro (Im guessing larger than the fair). The Fall Commencement graduates 1,000 students in front of all their friends and family members. The Spring Commencement graduates 2,000 students in front of their friends and family.

I wonder where they are planning to host the large convention this fall? The Performing Arts Center main auditorium only seats 825, but has several 600-seat ballrooms. Hanner Fieldhouse seats 5,500 I think. Russell Union Ballroom seats 700 at max and the 1085 (the theatre) seats around 450. There are dozens 150 and 300 seat lecture halls scattered around campus. The Williams Center Dining Hall seats about 700 too I think.

Speaking of meetingspace, Georgia Southern is preparing to build a new $60-million Student Union. To give you an idea of how large that is, the hospital cost $65-million.

Edited December 29, 2006 by andremurra

[MorganA15]

Well, it's the largest secured by the SCVB. I guess I should have mentioned that. It's really only about 1,000 attendees, the extras will be family members.

Exactly how big is the Union going to be? Uhh, $60 million is a lot.

BTW, any word on Centennial Park? That's a project I really want to see happen.

[MorganA15]

Well, the hotel at the corner of Hwy 67 and the bypass has been confirmed. There is one change though, there will only be one hotel and I'm guessing no conference center. No name has been announced, but an agreement should be signed soon with the hotel chain. As of now it will be a 3 story, 100 room hotel. I'm assuming it's going to be a pretty long hotel, seeing that the new Holiday Inn just down the road is going to be 4 stories and have 93 rooms. Why can't they go up?

From what they say, it's going to be a nice hotel. Let's hope so. Construction should only take but about a year.

There's one parcel they're trying to sell, right at the corner of the intersection. There's been a couple of businesses that's shown interest, but they're trying to find something that compliments the hotel (I have an idea, how about a RESTAURANT!? ).

Oh, and there was a nice price tag on that. 2.5 million dollars for that 6.3 or so acre site.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1692/

[peechdogg]

Well, the hotel at the corner of Hwy 67 and the bypass has been confirmed. There is one change though, there will only be one hotel and I'm guessing no conference center. No name has been announced, but an agreement should be signed soon with the hotel chain. As of now it will be a 3 story, 100 room hotel. I'm assuming it's going to be a pretty long hotel, seeing that the new Holiday Inn just down the road is going to be 4 stories and have 93 rooms. Why can't they go up?

From what they say, it's going to be a nice hotel. Let's hope so. Construction should only take but about a year.

There's one parcel they're trying to sell, right at the corner of the intersection. There's been a couple of businesses that's shown interest, but they're trying to find something that compliments the hotel (I have an idea, how about a RESTAURANT!? ).

Oh, and there was a nice price tag on that. 2.5 million dollars for that 6.3 or so acre site.

article: http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/1692/