Former Tax Commissioner and community activist Steven Kendrick recently called into a talk radio program and claimed that development of a mixed-use facility at the old Regency Mall site was moving along swiftly and indicated that major announcements were forthcoming.
Kendrick, who chairs the Augusta Economic Development Authority board, has long promoted redevelopment of the site, owned by Cardinale Property Management of New York. He sees that redevelopment as a first step in rejuvenating the Gordon Highway corridor.
Other city officials are a bit more cautious in their assessments of progress at the site.
The plan is to build a large-scale residential complex featuring a retail component that may include a grocery store along with other shops and a charter school, according to Kendrick and others.
The education group has received approval from the state and is now just waiting to begin construction, according to Robert Buchwitz, board chairman for the Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics.
While the Economic Development Authority is not officially involved in the proposed project, Director Cal Wray says he has attended two meetings recently to provide consultation.
“(Cardinale) seems to be very serious about it, and I’m told they could break ground by the end of the year,” Wray said, adding that Cardinale has been successful with similar projects in New York City and Baltimore, Md.
According to Kendrick and Wray, the company has already gotten the approval needed from the Planning and Zoning Department; however, according to Engineering Department Director Hameed Malik, Planning and Zoning only approved the concept and nothing else.
The project plans have not yet been presented to the Augusta Commission for approval.
Malik says that no architectural renderings or engineering studies have been provided to the city.
Several years ago, Cardinale had the mall parking lot demolished to avoid paying storm water fees, and that may add a major snag. Had the parking lot been left intact and a building constructed on the Regency Mall footprint, the originally approved water treatment system might have been grandfathered in, but with the parking lot gone, a major water treatment study will be needed.
“They will need to conduct a water quality study to provide provisions on how the rain runoff will be treated,” Malik said.
Rocky Creek, which is prone to flooding during heavy storms, runs through the edge of the property, and while there is a detention pond on the property, Malik says that the pond may prove to be a detriment and not an asset.
“The requirements for water management have changed drastically since Regency Mall was built back in the 1970s,” Malik said.
According to Malik, the water engineering study would have to occur before architects could get to work designing a building.
Regency Mall opened in 1978 and was the largest mall in the state of Georgia; however, over time the mall’s reputation suffered from gang and criminal activity such as the 1986 kidnapping of 17-year-old Aleta Bunch from the mall parking lot.
The mall closed in 2002 and since, much of the building has been demolished.
