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
PAGE 5