Update on Village at riverwatch and Wheeler town park, Telfair station part of building boom in AUG (new construction, store)

[g-man430]

Originally Posted by CaptainAwesome

I think the Village At Riverwatch is a terrible idea. I'd been against it since the beginning. It's right next to the canal too. I thought strip malls were done with!

Don't worry. It's not going to get built.

[cyclingintheson]

Originally Posted by judgeme

VAR will larger than atlantic station

It may be larger as far a land area is concerned but Atlantic Station has underground parking decks and multiple mid and highrises which by far gives Atlantic Station more square footage than Village at Riverwatch. Allot of the land at VAR is buffer zones along the canal which will not be developed and there are not any parking decks meaning allot of land will be used for parking. It is like saying Burke County is the largest county in Georgia. The Village at Riverwatch will more resemble the Summit in Birmingham and the Village at Sandhill in Columbia.

[lilmusket]

Any news on this thing?? Seems like it is completely dead.

[CanukInAugusta]

I drove past there and into the Comcast parking lot just to have a look.

Nothing; zero sign of any life. No construction equipment, no sign of any activity, etc.

[lilmusket]

Originally Posted by CanukInAugusta

I drove past there and into the Comcast parking lot just to have a look.

Nothing; zero sign of any life. No construction equipment, no sign of any activity, etc.

I remember how much this thing was hyped in the local media.. now nothing at all.

[nortonguy]

Yesterday on the news the mayor said. The Bass pro at Village at Riverwatch is still a go. To start construction this year. I don't know about the rest of the project.

[AugustaREGroup]

I have mixed views on this project.. Prime location (next to i-20), but does put downtown a few steps back. It is a step in the right direction... only about 3-4 miles from dtown.

[lilmusket]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Yesterday on the news the mayor said. The Bass pro at Village at Riverwatch is still a go. To start construction this year. I don't know about the rest of the project.

Yeah because the Bass Proshops is getting $17 million in taxpayer backed city bonds for its construction. I am not in favor of this arrangement. The TAD was supposed to be a mechanism to encourage developement in economically depressed parts of the city. The Riverwatch/I20 corridor is hardly an economically depressed area. If they want to build this at the Regency Mall site or off Gordon Highway or in downtown, then it would make sense to use the TAD funding mechanism, but as it is, this is a gross misuse of taxpayer bonds.

[lilmusket]

Originally Posted by AugustaREGroup

I have mixed views on this project.. Prime location (next to i-20), but does put downtown a few steps back. It is a step in the right direction... only about 3-4 miles from dtown.

Why not build it downtown?
You are aware that the bass proshops developers are getting around $17 million in taxpayer backed bonds for construction of this store? The TAD concept is supposed to encourage development in economically depressed areas of the city. How does this location qualify? There is a great article in the current metro spirit explaining this whole arrangement. It doesn't smell right to me. I say if they want the taxpayer bonds, then they should build in another location.

[All4Augusta]

As of july 2009 is this BPS still ago for breaking ground this year?