The former racetrack site at 3157 Gordon Hwy. could soon be the site of a nearly 500,000-square feet office complex made up of four five-story buildings.
Richmond and Columbia county development groups have partnered to help get the deal done.
Property owner Chance Raehn of Savannah, Ga. has applied for a height variance on the site. The matter will come before the Columbia County Planning Commission on Jan. 6, 2022, the commission’s first meeting of the new year.
Jim Cox, head of the commission, said the height variance is likely for mechanical equipment that would be affixed to the top of the building(s).
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Cox said this is a development his staff saw a year ago during some preliminary planning. The proposal is ready now to get off the ground and move forward.
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The site is adjacent to Fort Gordon’s Gate Six and represents a joining of efforts between Cal Wray, director of the Augusta Economic Development Authority, and Robbie Bennett, director of the Columbia County Development Authority.
Wray said he and Bennett have been working on the project for 18 months. Raehn told Wray he is happy to talk in all detail about the project once they officially close on the property. Raehn expects to close in January, Wray said, with construction getting moving “sometime in 2022.”
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“The first building will be in Columbia County,” Wray said. “About 80% of the property is in Columbia County and about 20% is in Richmond County. If the owner acquires future parcels, the goal is for a mixed use development beyond just office space. But the first office building is on this site in Columbia County.”
A restaurant and a hotel are two ideas that are potentially on the horizon.
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Wray said about a year ago, both development authorities sat down with the developer to make sure they understood the requirements and guidelines of operating in both counties, due to their eventual goal to build in both.
“Fort Gordon is building out $1.6 billion worth of space right now, and once that’s full, you can’t put every contractor on post,” Wray said. “We’ve got all the major players here and as they need office space, there’s only so much room within Fort Gordon.”
Within the zoning application reads, “Right across the site is Fort Gordon Cyber Security, which will benefit from the applicant’s development of site.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com
