Three new restaurants slated for former Evans church site

The former First Baptist Church of Evans property is going to be chopped into three separate parcels and will likely be home to three new restaurants and a bank.

Drawings obtained by The Augusta Press through an Open Records request show that the site has been engineered to house a bank, one fast food restaurant and two other restaurants. No information is available on which restaurants are coming. 

The new owner, Phillips Edison and Company (PECO), one of the country ‘a largest retail developers refused to disclose any of the users they have slated for the development. The Columbia County Planning Department has no records on which users are coming to the development.  

SEE THE DRAWINGS HERE

PECO purchased the 3.25 acre property for $3.6 million on August 8.

Emails indicate that the buyer was required to begin demolition of the church within 30 days of taking ownership as a condition of the sale. Demolition has not started.

Currently, the drawings submitted to Columbia County indicate that corner will house a 3,300 square foot bank with a drive through.  Those same drawings show one 2,500 square foot fast food restaurant and a 7,600 square foot building. That third building shows a 3,900 square foot restaurant and a 2,500 square foot restaurant with a drive thru. The center space (1,200 square feet) is designated simply as retail space.

Due to the proximity to the traffic light at Washington and North Belair Roads, traffic will have limited access. The North Belair Road curb cut will be ingress only. Two driveways on the Washington Rd side of the property will have both ingress and egress, according to the drawing, but a median limits access from drivers headed west on Washington Rd.

PECO also owns the Publix shopping center next door, but it is unclear if access will be modified through the shopping center parking lot to the new development. PECO also owns the Richmond Plaza shopping center across from the Augusta Mall. That center was recently renovated for an Ashley Furniture outlet store. It also houses Jo-ann Fabrics, HomeStore and Harbor Freight tools.