New Downtown and inner-city Augusta/ North Augusta going to another level (Garden City: new construction) (Gordon: appointed, employment)

[Airforceguy]

Great southern recreation will be designing it and the bid for another splash pad at the new Riverfront Park is also set to be awarded next week.

The cleared land is evidence of yet another big change. This is the latest in a series of developments giving this area a new identity heading into the biggest week of the year.

You might not see a splash pad or amphitheater this Masters week but neighbors say this area has already done a 180 from this time last year.

"This whole area was just grass it was nothing," said Alecia Edwards.

Alecia Edwards is the assistant general manager of the newly opened Southbound Smokehouse.

"When I started working for southbound I remember driving through here and going 'oh my god, this has become everything,'" said Edwards.

She says she's excited to have a new 600 seat amphitheater and splash pad next to her eventually. It's because of the new development that Riverside Village will be swamped with new faces come Masters week.

https://www.wrdw.com/content/news/Ne...507979681.html

[Airforceguy]

A developer is planning to build 60-unit senior housing apartment development at 811 Fifth Street at Laney Walker.
811 Fifth St-Augusta by brandon walker, on Flickr
NovusAGENDA

[AUGnative]

Hopefully they will do something to lure a grocery store to that area

[Airforceguy]

The department is also exploring a townhome concept on 11th Street with a developer. Next year, the department will be looking at much smaller homes, in the range of 500-900 square feet, on Cedar Street that would probably sell between $60,000 and $80,000 each, he said.

Then the area will “truly have a diversified portfolio,” Welcher said.

https://www.augustachronicle.com/new...-neighborhoods

[Airforceguy]

The depot deal should close next month and more lofts are coming downtown.

A RIVERBANK DEAL: The developer of the $94 million Riverfront at the Depot project is set to close next month on six acres of city-owned property behind the historic train depot along the river between Fifth and Sixth streets.

A principal with the Birmingham, Ala.-based developer told Augusta’s Downtown Development Authority this spring it planned to finance the project with a combination of debt and equity. There’s a good chance some of the debt financing could come from Cadence Bank, the Atlanta-based company that acquired State Bank & Trust earlier this year.

The developer is apparently in loan negotiations with the bank and authority member Cameron Nixon, Cadence’s regional president for East Georgia, asked to recuse himself from future Depot-related voting to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Nixon was one of the project’s most vocal advocates during city negotiations the past two years.


The authority board’s unanimously approved the measure after a closed-door “executive session” discussion on the matter. If Cadence does finance part of the Depot, the loan likely would originate out of Atlanta anyway – I think the development exceeds local pay grades.

MORE APARTMENTS DOWNTOWN: The downtown authority also approved a Georgia Cities Loan application for the redevelopers of 204 13th St., a nondescript two-story building being turned into six loft apartments.

The gray-brick building, attached to the rear of the Augusta Care Pregnancy Center at the intersection of Broad and 13th streets, is one of several multifamily projects in the works for downtown. Aside from the 140-unit Depot proposal, the owners of King Mill have announced plans to turn the historic factory into 241 upscale apartments.

The owners of the former Augusta Police Department property at Ninth and Reynolds streets propose a 90-unit apartment complex on a site once slated for a hotel. Meanwhile, the owners of a 4-acre acre tract near the corner of 11th and Fenwick streets – diagonally across from the Augusta Judicial Center – are planning a 140-unit apartment complex.

The space above the future Laziza Mediterranean Grill restaurant at 901 Broad St. will feature nine lofts. There are too many others to mention that are winding their way through the city planning and zoning department.

https://www.augustachronicle.com/new...store-to-close

[Airforceguy]

Plans are moving forward to convert the Fifth Street bridge into a pedestrian- and bicycle-only bridge, city officials confirmed.

The design for the bridge is expected to be completed by summer’s end, and a construction contract signed by year’s end, said John Ussery, assistant city Engineering director for traffic.

The idea for converting the bridge surfaced at least a decade ago in the downtown Augusta-North Augusta “Westobou” master plan.

The bridge is a Transportation Investment Act sales tax Band 2 project budgeted at $9.1 million.

The cost to reconstruct the bridge to maintain vehicle traffic – estimated at more than $14 million – was deemed too high, said city Engineering Director Hameed Malik.

https://www.augustachronicle.com/new...-street-bridge

[Airforceguy]

J.D. Wier’s first restaurant will open just a few hundred yards from the Savannah River, in the heart of Augusta, on what is considered to be the oldest street in town. It’s the culmination of Wier’s culinary journey that so far has spanned from Charleston to Texas.

The next stop on that journey is Noble Jones, a restaurant concept that will create a fusion of styles and flavors from across the American South, from the rich tastes of New Orleans to the classic southern fare that inspired Wier in Charleston; from smoky Texas barbecue to the French influences that shaped Wier’s culinary training at Johnson and Wales.

“It’s like you’re eating gumbo, you’re drinking a beer from Italy, or eating fried chicken, and you have a German lager or something…we’re just kind of like, ‘Dare to be different’ in a way.”

The restaurant is set to open mid-July. Smoked fried chicken, kimchi coleslaw, ribs, oysters, Asian chicken wings, po’ boys, even ice cream (one of Wier’s specialties) are a few items that will be featured on the menu.

https://buzzon.biz/2019/06/chef-revi...ue-restaurant/

[Airforceguy]

A deal could be made soon to start work on Riverside Park, the new park that will be apart of the Riverside Village project in North Augusta.

ewsChannel 6 first told you last month the development of Riverside Park is delayed due to being over budget. Now city leaders in North Augusta are close to striking a new deal to get the ball rolling again.

“We’re close. You know when you’re in negotiations with a contractor, it’s not fair to go out there and name names at this point,” said North Augusta’s Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Rick Meyer.

“A delay is probably inevitable you know dealing with city and city money etcetera. So I know Todd and all the guys over at the city are going to get it done before the end of the year,” said Southbound Smokehouse Co-Owner George Claussen.

Thousands of people in the CSRA are excited about what’s coming to North Augusta’s riverside village, especially George Claussen.

He said, “To have the city building an amphitheater right in front of a restaurant it just works out. We’re going to be booking that day in and day out.”

You have probably heard about what’s coming to the riverfront near SRP Park. A brand new park dubbed Riverside Park with a more than 600 seat amphitheater. Which may bring in world-renowned talent and artists right here at home.

https://www.wjbf.com/csra-news/city-...ide-park-deal/

[All_4_augusta]

Is the road construction on 15th street associated with the “Gateway” project?

[Shinedou]

Originally Posted by All_4_augusta

Is the road construction on 15th street associated with the “Gateway” project?

All I know is now you can't turn left out of the VA or the AUHealth parking deck onto 15th street anymore.