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value increase – we were up 18 percent in

2014, which we are very proud of. A lot of

that was a result of the announcement made

related to the Atlanta Media Campus as well

as Eagle Rock Studios. Those are two major

developments which happened within several

months of each other and it kind of brought

in the whole presence of the digital media as

well as movie and TV studios as well.

In 2014, the crossover of the I-85/Jimmy

Carter Blvd DDI was under construction,

and is currently 80-90 percent complete. In

late March we implemented the crossover

of traffic at that interchange; we are already

seeing significant reduction of delay in the

area.

JimBrooks:

I think if we look back in

history of the CID, we’ve always had one

primary objective: to add rooftops. Within 7

½miles, there are 596 businesses that need

clientele. Last year, for the first time, we saw

an increase in over 285 housing units started

within the area. About 40 have been either

completed or are near completion. That is

going to be a significant draw to the local

businesses. We have plans for our first new

hotel as well.

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about

the impact of the diverted left turn – you

would know it as the CFI, but the feds

don’t call it that anymore. We’re having our

second construction meeting…I didn’t say

‘acquisition,’ I said actual construction…of

the diverted left turn. That’s a $35 million

dollar project inside the City of Snellville

at highways 124 and 78, and we think that’s

going to relieve a huge bottleneck. In 2011 on

Highway 78, we moved 42,000 cars through

one intersection. Last year we moved 75,642

cars through the same intersection. That’s

the kind of traffic counts that businesses are

looking for.

We are also about to announce the

expansion of Heatcraft. They just received

a multi-million dollar grant from the

department of energy and they’ve got some

pretty cool stuff that we can’t yet talk about,

but can you imagine an air conditioning

system that doesn’t have coolant in it? So

that’s what they’re working to develop at this

point, but there is a test lab required and that

is about a $4 million expansion of the existing

facility. So what we are seeing is an overall

turnaround in the economic conditions that I

think affect all of us.

Anderson:

What are your goals for the

next 2-3 years?

Allen:

I think our ultimate goal was

best articulated by Chairman Nash during

her 2015 State of the County Address when

she said that we ultimately want to see a

reinvented Gwinnett Place area that is the

center of Gwinnett’s downtown. Since last

August we have been working on a master

plan called ‘Activate Gwinnett Place’. This

plan is going to be the CID’s marching

orders for the next 2-3 years. Activate

Gwinnett Place invites mixed-use investment

by creating greater connectivity between

commercial centers and public green space

and offering transportation enhancements.

The plan proposes a stormwater management

solution that can also serve as a public

amenity.

As part of the process, we have been

talking a lot about connectivity to McDaniel

Farm Park – that is such a hidden jewel in

the Gwinnett Place community. Workers

in the area frequently comment that they

would love to be able to jog or walk to the

park during their lunch breaks, but they

can’t access it without getting into their cars.

We’re also discussing a grand promenade that

connects and supports all the catalyst projects,

creating more walkable areas that today’s

investors and consumers are seeking.

Warbington:

We are going to focus

our efforts around two words: sustain and

capitalize. We want to continue sustaining

some of the successes we have already seen,

that is continuing with the crime reduction

efforts, traffic reduction efforts, and property

value increases throughout the area. At the

same time, we want to capitalize on a lot of

those successes as well, such as using the

Atlanta Media Campus and Eagle Rock

Studios to create a center for digital media –

not just the center of movie making, but that

creation of a mixed-use development around

those two industries.

Finally, we have the most industrial

property in the county so when you talk

about movement of goods and freights it

starts in our area. If there is any expansion

of transit within the county it will come

through our area. Our corridor has the most

pedestrian activity in the county, and carries

the most vehicles in the country. We are

going to be working as a grass roots effort on

the ‘Great Exchange on Transportation’ late

August. It is a county-wide conversation with

the businesses and residents, focused on what

is needed in high-level transportation.

Brooks:

We have a long-range strategic

plan that deals with a 4.2-mile parallel road

system, 2.2 miles of which is in some state

of completion. Right now we are looking at

projects list that would allow us to connect

on two ends that would provide an alternate

route when we have incidents on Highway

78. Public safety is very important to us and

certainly when we’re moving that many cars

in that small of an area, it’s challenging. When

there is an incident of any kind it paralyzes 78.

continued on page 11

THE EXECUTIVE – Q3 2015

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