After many years of wavering back and forth, downtown Augusta appears to be cruising into an era of growth with developers racing to build new luxury apartments to meet surging demand.
ATC Development announced last month plans to build a mixed-use apartment and business complex on 3.5 acres in the heart of downtown. The site, located between Greene and Telfair Streets, will contain 140 apartments split up between studios and 1- and 2-bedroom units.
The development will also house a cafe, office spaces, a wading pool, sun deck and roughly 190 parking spaces.
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Nearby, the final plans are about to be submitted to the city for a planned housing development at 302 10th St., to be known as The Atticus, named after the late Sen. Jack Connell who owned the property and was a regular fixture at his Sandwich City cafe. That development is being spearheaded by Connell’s daughter Andrea Gibbs.
The Atticus will have 54 luxury apartments along with retail and restaurant space, a rooftop patio and a gated parking lot with 57 spaces.
Another 100-unit apartment building on James Brown Boulevard, The James, is almost through the engineering phase and is expected to break ground later in 2021, according to Joe Edge, President of Sherman and Hemstreet Real Estate Co, which is a partner in the project. Joe Edge is also the publisher for The Augusta Press.
“The James is going to be great bookend with the Beacon Station project for the Laney Walker area,” said Edge.
Building has already begun on Millhouse Station located at 636 11th St. near the Judicial Center. That development on 4.2 acres will house 155 apartments and contain a clubhouse with a fitness center and an outdoor dog park.
Augusta Planning and Zoning Director Rob Sherman says the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the momentum on the projects but not the interest in building downtown.
“There are even more projects planned that are stalled because of covid,” he says, “but the desire to get them under way is there.”
Sherman also pointed out that the $10 million in seed money Augusta University received from the Augusta National for development of the old Kroger property on 15th Street will be yet another stimulus to the downtown economy.
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Downtown Development Authority Director Margaret Woodard is giddy about the fact that high density developments are underway in the downtown area.
“I have said for years that we need ‘heads in beds’ so to speak, to attract more retail,” she says.
One type of retail Woodard is hoping for is a major chain grocery store. She says grocery store chains look at three factors in deciding where to build: population density, income levels and activity hubs.
“I’m excited. We are reaching the level to maybe attract a grocery store,” she says. “The medical district continues to grow, and we have Unisys and TaxSlayer downtown, so we are building that activity hub that will eventually attract a grocery store.”
Woodard says a major grocer locating in downtown would cause a bit of a domino effect, bringing the area to the attention of other major retailers looking to expand their footprints.
There have been rumors of negotiations with a major grocer being interested in locating downtown. Hawthorne Welcher, director of Augusta Housing and Development, says he can’t confirm or deny the rumors but offers a hint.
“All I can say is that there are positive conversations going on right now,” he says.
Welcher points to the Beacon Station development on Wrightsboro Road that opened last year as the catalyst for more developers to become interested in downtown Augusta. That 221-unit complex is now at 93 percent occupancy.
“Beacon Station proved there is a demand for housing,” he says, “and their success has led to us having more positive conversations.”
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
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