PROGRESS: Gwinnett experiences a new wave of large development projects | News

But, the construction is not finished. Not even remotely. A new wave of large construction projects, including new developments and some redevelopment projects, is looming throughout Gwinnett County.

From Snellville and Lilburn to Dacula and Peachtree Corners, and even in Lawrenceville, there are major projects already under construction or coming in the next few years.

“We are very excited about this,” said Gwinnett County Economic Development Director Roman Dakare. “As a country, we went through a period of time during the COVID-19 pandemic where unemployment rates reached levels we haven’t seen in a long time and delayed economic development activities and getting products from point A to point A. point B. it has become difficult…

“As we emerged from that in late 2021 and early 2022, we have seen an increase in economic development activities and projects (and) interest from developers and investors in properties located in Gwinnett County. So, it’s a very exciting time for us.”

This year’s Daily Post Progress section looks at some of the big new developments that are underway or coming in the not too distant future.

The new wave of large projects offers a range of approaches. Northside Hospital is converting its Gwinnett campus in Lawrenceville into what is expected to eventually be the largest campus in the hospital system with a new 15-story patient tower. That tower, by the way, will also be one of the tallest buildings in Gwinnett County when completed, although the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta hotel will retain its title as the tallest building in the county.

Northside is also working on a medical office park on Buford Drive, across the street from the Exchange at Gwinnett in the Mall of Georgia area.

Meanwhile, the nearly 2,000-acre Rowen project broke ground in December. The research-oriented knowledge community will be a mixed-use development located between Dacula and the Gwinnett-Barrow county line.

The development, which will largely focus on research in the agricultural, environmental and biomedical fields, is expected to create more than 100,000 new jobs in the coming decades.

“He’s going to continue to ensure that Gwinnett is a major birthplace of innovation,” Governor Brian Kemp said at Rowen’s inauguration in December. “For me, that is what this project is about, but the thing is that this is not going to be only in the next few years. I think this is going to be for decades.

“And that kind of bold thinking is impressive and also commendable.”

Elsewhere, officials for the Gas South District, which has spent the COVID-19 pandemic undergoing major expansion, turned their eyes toward the long-awaited mixed-use development at the convention center and arena campus in the non-U.S. Duluth Incorporated.

Lawrenceville continues to prepare for a downtown hotel whose foundations were already laid a few years ago.

And, speaking of long-awaited plans, the mixed-use development of Snellville’s Grove at Town Center, which city leaders have been planning for a couple of decades, continues to rise from the ground.

The multi-family housing has been the first part of the project to come off the ground, but work continues on other aspects, including a new library branch, green space and commercial aspects.

Residents began moving into The Tomlin Apartments at Town Center in December. Meanwhile, THRIVE co-working recently announced that it will be located on the second floor of the library building. Northside also plans to have a presence there.

Gwinnett County has three economic development projects — the Gwinnett Place mall redevelopments in unincorporated Duluth, the OFS property near Norcross, and the former Olympic Tennis Center site near Snellville — on which it continues to work.

The Gwinnett Place Mall project has received the most attention in the past year, as plans have been drawn for what that property will likely look like. A “global village” redevelopment, with a mix of retail, green space, a cultural center, residential housing, and other community services, such as employment and business support, has emerged as the likely redevelopment plan.

Meanwhile, Suwanee officials are working on a new Town Center Park at Main and Delay Nature Park, west of Buford Highway. The 25-acre Town Center Park on Main will include green space, as well as a signature 900-foot bridge, plaza, sandpit volleyball courts, artwork and large pavilions. Delay Nature Park will span 15 acres.

Both parks started building together last September.

Similarly, Lilburn officials are planning a major expansion to City Park that will include more green space, as well as potential outdoor event spaces and walking trails. A downtown brewery is also being sought for the former Building Steel Supply building.

And downtown Norcross will get a new entertainment option when the South End development fully opens. Some of the retail businesses in the South End have already opened, but they are expected to include more dining and entertainment options, similar to what Duluth gained a few years ago with the opening of Parsons Alley.

Norcross will also welcome a new Truck and Tap location on the hill overlooking Lillian Webb Park. Truck and Tap, which already has a few locations in the Atlanta metro area, including one in Duluth, has begun going through the permitting process to begin construction at the corner of College Street and Britt Avenue.

In the longer term, however, Norcross officials look forward to the implementation of the Buford Freeway Master Plan. Implementation of the plan, which will include private sector partners, will see the Buford Highway portion of the city transform and some portions become more dense.

“There are developers and development teams and investors looking for properties along the Buford Highway Corridor as we have adopted a master plan and are actively seeking to encourage investment where appropriate,” said Norcross Director of Economic Development William Corbin , to Daily. Post in October.

Even the city of Auburn, which straddles the Gwinnett-Barrow county line, has some economic redevelopment projects downtown as it finishes its new City Hall. Those projects will move government operations out of downtown Auburn and replace them with new dining and entertainment options for residents.

Explore Gwinnett CEO Stan Hall said the new wave of development happening in Gwinnett offers a big step forward for the county.

“There are two things, to me, that come to mind on the county side,” said Hall, who handles the Southern Gas District as part of his job. “The first one is obviously the redevelopment of the old Gwinnett Place Mall. I think that’s huge for everyone. We are very excited about the potential of having the development that you have outlined at Gwinnett Place, in relation to our campus.

“Satellite Boulevard is a natural path that connects that property to this property. We’d certainly love to see something transit-wise that’s a direct link between the two. We have always been supporters of a transit stop on our property.”

The second project that Hall is especially excited about is Rowen. After all, the Gas South District has meeting space and will soon have a hotel where visiting researchers could stay while they work on Rowen.

“Rowen is something that we think we would be a part of based on the businesses that would occupy that project,” Hall said. “Even in the early stages, as businesses start to connect, we think having the closest full-service hotel to that property, with the Westin when it opens, would benefit us from that.

“And I think they would benefit from us having that proximity to the people that would be going in and out of that project. And, once that actually comes online, to have a meeting space here that really is a world-class meeting space, we think we would be a great partner.”