The director of the Downtown Development Authority, Margaret Woodard, spoke before the Augusta Commission on Oct. 4 and told the body that the post-pandemic economy in downtown continues to rebound.
According to Woodard, 40 businesses have either been created, expanded or moved into a new location in the area this year.
“Some of the new businesses are Tacocat, Edwards’ Mercantile, Augusta Cigar Club and Manny’s (Service Center),” Woodard said.
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A small business resource center and incubator will soon be coming to downtown.
According to Woodard, $2.35 million was secured through U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s office to allow the Downtown Development Authority to partner with Augusta Tech to create the incubator.
Augusta Tech will purchase an undisclosed building on Broad Street for the business incubator and Woodard says the project can move forward as soon as the federal funds are released.
One of Woodard’s top priorities, getting “heads in beds” downtown is getting closer to being met. Woodard has long advocated for more housing downtown in the hopes of drawing the interest of a grocery chain to service the area that has long been a “food desert.”
According to Woodard, The Row, a $26 million, 160-unit luxury apartment complex is finished and will begin offering leases this week. Millhouse Station, a luxury high-rise located at 636 11th Street is also accepting lease applications for the 159-unit property.
Woodard says even more housing is planned to be available soon.
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“The Augustan, which is located at the old bus station (on Greene Street) is under construction. It will have 136 units, it’s a $26 million investment and it will be complete in April of 2023,” Woodard said.
The long-awaited “gateway arches,” a project which has been delayed due to supply line issues, should be complete by November, according to Woodard.
The two arches will be installed at the Riverwalk entrances on 8th Street and James Brown Boulevard.
Now that the 5th Street Pedestrian Bridge is open, the Downtown Development Authority will also be moving forward with getting WiFi up and running to be available to people enjoying the bridge.
Speaking of high-tech, the old kiosks downtown where people could tack up paper announcements of upcoming events are slowly being replaced with electronic kiosks, according to Woodard. The two new solar-powered interactive kiosks, which will be located at the 5th Street Bridge and across from Augusta Common in front of the Soul Bar, will operate much like a Kindle reader.
“You just push a button, and you will get a schedule of events, things that are going on downtown and information about businesses downtown,” Woodard said.
The kiosks will also include traffic information on planned road projects in the area.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
