F'ville council views Villages retail concept

Fri, 02/22/2008 - 12:05pm
By: Ben Nelms

It may well be an idea that will work to bring upscale retail and potentially some live/work opportunities to The Villages development in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville City Council heard initial concept plans Thursday by Heritage Creek Development to construct nearly 89,000 square feet of commercial space on 13.7 acres situated along Ga. Highway 54 between Meeting Place Drive and Lafayette Avenue.

Mayor Ken Steele mirrored the comments of others on the council, suggesting that emerging plans for the development include how the tract will develop as part of the overall 110-acre area, the consideration of a live/work component to the project and, generally and the inclusion of more greenspace and less parking.

The council said a 45,000 square-foot anchor might fit instead of the 33,000 square-foot structure conceived in the original 2000 plan.

They acknowledged, in concert with the developer, that a grocer to serve as an anchor was no longer likely due to the large presence of other grocery stores in close proximity to the site. Heritage Creek owner Wayne Kendall said all the speciality grocers contacted declined to enter the Fayetteville market.

The council also agreed to consider an alteration to the square turnaround area immediately west of Hampton Inn, with the possibility of rounding it off to cut down on what Kendall called a traffic stacking problem.

Heritage Creek will continue to work with city staff to bring the proposal forward.

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Submitted by slj355 on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 8:56am.

Why on earth do we need more retail? It makes no sense to me. You add more retail, it takes away business from current retailers who will eventually close their doors, creating yet more vacant/dark space. Can't we learn from the residental market? Hey - there is a surplus of retail out there. Look at the Pavilian - there are at least two large retail spaces available. Do we really need more upscale retail? Let's save our money for retirement, for our children's education. Remember... you can't take it with you - so why buy it in the first place? Living in a material world...

Submitted by Hazel Nutt on Fri, 02/22/2008 - 2:43pm.

Great. More stores to go out of business in 6 months and sit vacant for 3 years.

Submitted by Split Decision on Sun, 02/24/2008 - 4:27pm.

areas, please!

I'm so tired of seeing property clear-cut in order to slap up a building that may not be leased within the next few years. I'm also tired of the "build it and they will come" attitude because it doesn't always work, as evidenced by so many never-leased buildings up and down Hwy. 85 & Hwy. 54.

I want the natural areas left alone. I wish the yes-men currently in power in Fayette County couldn't approve any new building, commerical or residential, until the current vacancies are 90% occupied.

Submitted by tikigod on Sun, 02/24/2008 - 11:29pm.

I welcome the idea of "upscale" retail. A well designed retail area will be much better than the inevitable alternative in that location, another strip mall.

But please Fayetteville, require the developer to leave more trees than 3. EVERY TIME a new development is in the works, the first thing to go is 99.9 percent of the tress. How about making them leave a tree line between the road and the development. Is that really too much to ask?

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