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McDONOUGH, GA-Ignored as a retail investment oasis until 2003, Henry County has been discovered by local, regional and national developers and merchants, but the county--30 miles southeast of Downtown Atlanta--isn't overjoyed with all of the proposed projects, including ventures by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
In its most recent action, the county's planning commission has rejected a proposal by the Bentonville, AR-based retailer for an estimated $20-million, 203,819-sf, 30-acre store in the Ellenwood/Fairview community. Residential support for the project at a public hearing was mixed, some fighting the retailer's plans; others supporting the store.
Brokers attending the hearing tell GlobeSt.com Wal-Mart officials are banking on the full county commission to approve the project later this summer, particularly after they learn the retailer plans to invest $1.7 million on traffic improvements near Fairview Road and Cook Drive--an area one group of residents argues will be a traffic nightmare if Wal-Mart is permitted to build a store at that site.
For Wal-Mart, getting turned down by a local government in the first or last stages of a proposed development is becoming old hat. In February, for example, the Arkansas-based merchant struck out on plans to build a 330,586-sf retail campus that would have housed a supercenter and seven two-story office buildings on North Cobb Parkway near the Paulding and Bartow county boundaries, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. Cobb County planning officials and county commissioners ruled against the project, despite a potential annual property tax revenue windfall of $2.85 million.
In Georgia, Wal-Mart has a total 120 stores, supercenters and Sam's Club and eight distribution centers employing 50,000 workers, according to the company's most recent statistics.
The retailer has also come under criticism from life-quality groups citing Wal-Mart's lack of attention to its vacated big-box properties. Wal-Mart owns or leases 152 empty or partially occupied stores across the country, including 22 in Georgia. Eight stores are in metro Atlanta and two are in Gwinnett County. The company rebuts the criticism by saying it has an ongoing program to re-lease its empty big-boxes in all parts of the country.
Meanwhile, another national developer, Sembler Co. of St. Petersburg, FL, doesn't appear to be encountering the same level of local opposition to its new projects, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Sembler has submitted preliminary development plans to Forsyth County and Cumming, GA for 312,000-sf shopping center tentatively scheduled to break ground in first quarter 2006. The development site is at the northeast corner of Buford Dam Road and GA 400, about 40 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta. Committed tenants are Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy. The developer is also negotiating leases with JoAnn's, Linens 'n Things, Steinmart, TJ Maxx and Old Navy, local retail brokers familiar with the project tell GlobeSt.com. The center will also have small-shop space, restaurants and outparcels for sale or lease.
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