"As far as I've heard, no member of the Snellville City Council has had a problem with the development on Wisteria. Perhaps the lack of development, but not with the development. The development is also called Wisteria Square.
The reason we have the "bridge to nowhere" in that large lot, and a parking lot set up for nothing, is that the developer hasn't been able to get investors yet. It's been well-documented that Doug Spohn has said he hasn't been able to move ahead because of investment issues, and we all know what has happened with the banking industry.
Here is Susan Gast's AJC article 'What's with the bridge in the field? ' dated December 13, 2007. Here is an entry from Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer's blog regarding the development, dated October 24, 2007: 'Wisteria Square on Hold, AJC Reports.'
Excerpt:
City Manager Jim Brooks checked in with developer Doug Spohn on Tuesday to find out what is happening with the property.The Snellville Police Department will build a
“He is still interested,” said Brooks. “He wants to have a certain percentage of it pre-sold prior to coming out of the ground.”
state-0f-the-art public safety campus right across the street, and I'm confident that once the police facility gets underway, the developer of Wisteria Square, a work and play development won't have any problem getting takers.
We're all sick of looking at that bare field, but let's put blame where blame belongs...or better yet, not play the blame game at all.
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I thought there were restaurants signed on but then they backed out when the liquor sales didn't pass with the Snellville City council.. ?? I don't blame them. I avoid restaurants in Snellville.
ReplyDeleteThat could be part of it, but I think most of it is the real estate market. The developer knew what Snellville's liquor laws were, well before Wisteria Square was planned. I do think liquor by the drink law should be put to a vote by the people though!
ReplyDeleteWhy do you avoid restaurants in Snellville?
No nice restaurant will ever come to Snellville with our current liquor laws - plenty of title pawn shops, though! Thanks, Snellville City Council, for making 78 look like Memorial Drive!
ReplyDeleteThe Snellville City Council should make sure developers have investors BEFORE clearing huge lots like that. Also, Spohn cleared that lot years ago; he cannot blame the current economic downturn for his lack of investors.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the clearing process is to stir up excitement. Part of what the developer has to do is to market potential of a property. People don't see potential in a wooded lot with a sign out front, but they DO see potential when they see an area get cleared out, it brings attention to it as an opportunity. Spohn is paying taxes on that property, whether it's empty or not, right? So, to me it's unsightly, but I don't think there will be any worries when the $1.8- $6.8 million dollar public safety facility gets going.
ReplyDeleteWhat killed US78 (and made it look a lot like Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain) was when Eastside Medical Center relocated from Fountain Drive to the current location near Ronald Reagan Parkway when the Parkway was built. Kroger relocated from US78 to Scenic Hwy, and other businesses followed.
Thank you for commenting on my post at www.talkgwinnett.net . I'm in the process of verifying my memory on the sequence of events concerning the Snellville Town Center and will post supporting documentation. In the meantime, here are a few thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIf my memory is correct, Snellville was actually one of the first out of the starting gate in Gwinnett County on the Town Center type development. Yet, there are areas all around the City of Snellville that have gotten out of the ground and are thriving, Grayson, The Avenue Webb Ginn, Lawrenceville, Suwanee Town Center, Duluth, etc.
All the developments mentioned above are leaving Snellville's Town Center in the dust. WHY? The other developments are still building even in the current economic environment. Again, WHY? What influences are having a positive impact on those developments and a negative impact on Snellville?
You call it blame. I call it analyzing what elements of the developments are the same or similar and what elements are different and identifying the cause. I believe that a large portion of the difference has to do with former and current council members who reversed, blocked or otherwise hindered the forward progress of Snellville’s Town Center.
A final thought.
There are those of us in and outside the City of Snellville who have $money$ to spend. We can spend it inside Snellville thus benefiting local businesses and increasing city revenue OR we can take our $money$ to Suwanee, Grayson, Lawrenceville, you name it.
Where are we going to spend your $money$?