Mayor Hardie Davis talks about future of Augusta for the next year (Jackson: crime, how much)

[Airforceguy]

I'm centainly looking forward to see what happens to the city in 2017..

New businesses began to call Augusta home this year. Edencrete, Textron, and ADP are just some of the companies adding to the roughly 200 million dollars in investments coming to the city. There are also two new hotels coming downtown and a number of businesses moving there. Mayor Davis sees these leading to more tangible changes.

"Now we've reached that place where we want our skyline to look like a big city," he said.

As these companies come, he says they need to focus on having a work force ready to join it.

"If we're going to have a strong and growing and stable workforce in Augusta, we have to partner with our schools," the mayor said.


That means K-12, and the colleges too.

"You're going to see something coming from the commission and the mayor's office in regards to work force development," Mayor Davis said.

Some efforts they have now include My Brother's Keeper and working with the Clubhouse.

They've already made efforts to helping grow another area in the workforce. Last week city leaders passed the Ban the Box initiative to help those convicted of a crime get back to work.

"Looking at how we handle returning citizens, they need to be a viable part of our work force moving forward," he said.

Augusta's mayor sees this city changing into a leader in the nation.

"When you look at Augusta truly being a city of innovation, and I've talked about that from day one, making Augusta truly a city of innovation," he said.

Another change you can already see downtown with Augusta's new Innovation Zone.

And if 2016 was about planning, Mayor Hardie Davis says 2017 is about progress.

"We've talked about the potential for Augusta for so many years. And now we've moved beyond the place of potential where things are actually taking place and we couldn't be more pleased with that," he said.

This year, we saw a lot of groundwork. New T.I.A. plans to update Broad Street, Planning and Development master plans for downtown development, and a new master plan passed for Augusta Parks and Recreation.

"What we've taken great steps to do in my administration is say, we're not just going to plan, we're taking great steps to execute on those plans," he said.

Somethings are already in the works, like on the downtown depot.

"Now because of collaborative efforts you're going to see something taking place there, and hopefully we'll be able to make an announcement in the first quarter of 2017," the mayor said.

Mayor Hardie Davis talks about future of Augusta for the next year

[starscreamer]

I wonder how many stores high will these two new hotels will be

[Airforceguy]

The new hotel at the corner of James Brown Blvd and Reynolds will be 7-stories and the Hyatt House Hotel on Broad will be 5-stories, but will have a two story parking garage plus ground floor retail space making it 7 in total. While, both hotels won't have much impact on the skyline they certainly will add to the density of the downtown area. The two projects I'm really looking forward to are the train depot development and the proposed hotel for the old sky department store site. The train depot development will certainly have an impact on the skyline and add density as well. Also depending on how big the proposed hotel at the site of the sky department is, it could have an impact on the skyline as well.

[amlovingit]

How many stories a hotel needs to be considered as skyline?

[All_4_augusta]

I would say at least 10 to impact the skyline. Coming in from NA there are some amazing views with the mid-rises already there in that area. Let's just hope these buildings have lights on the outside of the building to illuminate the skyline a little more.

[starscreamer]

Yeah especially if you riding on 520 through north augusta. You'll get real good view of downtown augusta skyline

[All_4_augusta]

Originally Posted by starscreamer

Yeah especially if you riding on 520 through north augusta. You'll get real good view of downtown augusta skyline

I doubt any recent developments make it over the 10-12 story mark, but you'd be surprised with how much infill just 3 new 10 story buildings would create. Look at Columbia, SC for example, hey don't have too many gigantic towers, but the amount of buildings in one cluster create a "large skyline" effect. I'd definitely say the same for cities like Greenville, Railegh, Birmingham, and Jackson as well!

[starscreamer]

Originally Posted by All_4_augusta

I doubt any recent developments make it over the 10-12 story mark, but you'd be surprised with how much infill just 3 new 10 story buildings would create. Look at Columbia, SC for example, hey don't have too many gigantic towers, but the amount of buildings in one cluster create a "large skyline" effect. I'd definitely say the same for cities like Greenville, Railegh, Birmingham, and Jackson as well!

I heard the new Judicial center they recently built not too long ago was originally going to be 20 stories high

[luke2401]

Originally Posted by starscreamer

I heard the new Judicial center they recently built not too long ago was originally going to be 20 stories high

I've heard about that too! I also remember the city once upon a time considering purchasing 699 Broad (formerly Wells Fargo/Wachovia/First Union/Georgia RRB&T) and using it for the space

[All_4_augusta]

Yes, I recall that information as well about the judicial center being 20 stories! I didn't know about the Wells Fargo building however. So, what is proposed at the old train depot space? I tried to do some research but couldn't find anything. Where is Norton Guy or Eastside Dave when we need them? Lol