The Regency Mall Redevelopment project is going before the Richmond County Planning Commission on Monday.
On May 31, former Augusta tax commissioner mayoral candidate Steven Kendrick announced in a press conference that Mattituck, N.Y.-based Cardinale Management Group, which owns the Regency Mall property, has plans for vast mixed-use development called Cardinal Town Square, to include apartments, restaurants, a performing arts center and even a school.
On May 27, Cranston Engineering Group submitted to the Richmond County Planning Department a petition to rezone the Regency Mall property—consisting of 75 acres of land on the northwestern side of the intersection between Gordon Highway and Deans Bridge Road—from B-2, or general business, to a planned unit development zone.
The engineering firm’s rezoning application, submitted on behalf of Cardinale Management, includes a narrative document outlining the development project and its scope; deeds for the four parcels of land; a plat and boundary survey; a traffic study document and a development of regional impact form.
The copy of the application made available does not include, however, a conflict-of-interest certification or campaign contribution disclosure, the section for which is left blank on the application.
The application was also notarized in the state of New York by a Barbara McKinnon. James McKinnon is the son-in-law of Alan Cardinale, owner Cardinale Management, and is under investigation by the Georgia Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission over billboards erected in 2018 to influence voters in favor of moving the James Brown Arena to the Regency Mall site in a non-binding referendum.
After the press conference announcing the Cardinal Town Square project, Steven Kendrick, who is also chairman of the Augusta Economic Development Authority, held two town hall meetings about the development of south Augusta. He has said that his support of the Regency Mall project would continue regardless of the outcome of the mayoral race.
The rezoning of the Regency Mall property is the third item on the agenda for its meeting on Monday, Aug. 1, at the second floor of the Municipal Building.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
