Snellville picks MidCity as developer for $85 million Towne Center project
Snellville is partnering with two developers on an $85 million first phase of its new town center, the latest suburban Atlanta city embracing the chance to create a vibrant downtown. The Grove at Towne Center will be led by a joint venture of Casto, a more than 90-year-old real estate company based in Columbus, Ohio, and MidCity Real Estate Partners, an Atlanta firm that brought walkable, mixed-use development to downtown Alpharetta. The first phase is set to begin in 2020, depending on the development team’s ability to secure construction financing in coming months. It will include 250 apartments and over 50,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and entertainment space. Paths for pedestrians and cyclists will also connect to the Snellville Greenway. The Market Center will anchor the project. Early ideas for the building include a brew pub and upscale event space. The Commons area will also allow the city to create a public gathering space for festivals and other events. The Grove at Towne Center is a microcosm of widespread downtown revitalization underway across the country, with local examples in Alpharetta, Duluth, Suwanee, Lawrenceville and other cities. As more people return to downtowns, it’s also a reminder of how many regional power retail centers and malls that flourished in the 80s and 90s are under pressure to stay relevant with consumers. “Historically, in areas of the Northeast, the Midwest and Europe, the town center was everything,” said Kirk Demetrops, president of MidCity. “There was a 20-year trend where land was cheap, and the power centers and the malls were in vogue. There’s still room for those. But, the town center is coming back as a place that brings people together.” “We’ve been working on this for a year,” Demetrops said. “It’s a really good match for us.” This article first appeared in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 27th, 2019 by Douglas Sams. To see the original article, click...
read moreSnellville signs on to $85 million development with 250 apartments
Snellville leaders signed an agreement Monday to build an $85 million mixed use development as part of the Towne Center project. The Gwinnett city is entering a public-private partnership with commercial real estate company Casto and developer MidCity Real Estate Partners. The project is intended to be just the first phase of a greater development called The Grove at Towne Center. Towne Center is a separate city project intended to create a walkable space in Snellville’s center where people can live, work and enjoy recreational activities. Snellville and Gwinnett County will contribute a combined $30 million to the Grove project, city spokesman Brian Arrington said. That will cover a market building, a parking deck, a county library, work on roads and stormwater systems, and upgrades for walkability and a greenway. The Grove will include both public and private buildings, according to the city. Among them will be a new post office; the U.S. Postal Service agreed in July to move the Snellville post office from its current location on Oak Road to a city-owned former bank branch. The current post office is on land that will become the Towne Center Greenway. Plans for The Grove also include space for a library and a town green. The private buildings include space for 250 apartments and more than 50,000 square feet of commercial space that could be used for shops, restaurants or office space, according to plans released by the city. There will also be a facility called the Market Center, intended to be the project’s “anchor,” according to a city release. What will go inside has not been decided, but one suggested use for the two-story building is having a brewpub on the first floor and an event space on the second, Arrington said. Towne Center has been in the works for years, with pieces incrementally being approved by the Snellville City Council. In addition to The Grove, the city has OK’d plans for a network of walking and biking trails that will make up the Towne Center Greenway and an 88-unit senior living center that will be close to the project’s core. This article was first published in the Gwinnett County section of the The Atlatna Journal-Constitution on April 28th, 2019 and is written by Amanda C. Coyne. To read the original publication, click...
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