New restaurants & retail in Augusta (Savannah, Garden City: condo, organic, live)

[All4Augusta]

Well something needs to happen and fast !! Gordon hw is becoming a ghost strip! Norton guy, what's the deal on the police station in south gate I think it was a sub station!! They should put an ANC out there too I kno alot of questions lol lol

[All4Augusta]

Oooops I meant amc lol

[EastsideDave]

The city decided to build a new sheriff's office across the street from the LEC at 401 Walton Way, they said that the price tag for the Smartway building was too high. There is still a police substation somewhere behind South Gate though.

On the Regency (and much of the Gordon Hwy corridor in question) subject, I personally think that it is too close to the Augusta Mall and the Augusta Exchange to support very much MAJOR retail. It has no interstate frontage (something that malls and large retail developments mostly want now-a-days). I really think that the best use for the property is to build some sort of mixed use development there with a small amount of retail and mostly residential, or just tear the thing down and put in a large park.

I think that a better place for a large retail development in South Augusta would be at the Mike Padgett Hwy or Doug Bernard Pkwy exits of 520, a development there would have the much needed interstate frontage, as well as being able to draw from shoppers in South Augusta, West Augusta, CC, Aiken County, and South Richmond County.

[nortonguy]

The area of Gordon hwy between I-520 and Harlem. That area has added alot of new developments lately. Three new hotels, $4 million American Tire facility, subdvisions, golf ranges, etc.


The area of Gordon hwy near Regency Mall. The area still has a ways to go. The Southgate shopping center has added a few stores. Then a chinese and barebecue restaurant have opened recently across from the mall. When the lake is completed at the mall. This side of Gordon Hwy will start to grow like the other side.

[GeorgiaGirl14]

My dad is probably one of the few folk that actually supports the idea of a lake where Regency Mall used to be.

[nortonguy]

67% of the people voted for splost. That means almost 70% of the people in Augusta support the idea.

[EastsideDave]

When you say 'lake', do you mean 'retaining pond'? Because I've seen some of the plans for the site and it had a retaining pond/lake on one small corner of the property facing Gordon Hwy, I'm just wondering if we're on the same page or if you're talking about something totally different.

Corey Johnson also wants to tear down Hyde Park and put in a retaining pond there too, wonder if anything will come of that, from what I've seen on the news, the residents don't seem to keen on the idea.

[The Magician]

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Savannah has two malls within 10 minutes of each other and they've been able to make it work and for some reason the city of Augusta couldn't. I don't want to here about tourist. The malls in Savannah aren't located anywhere near an interstate, so that's out. What's going on?

Anyways, a lake/pond isn't going to help the Regency site. Someone needs to buy it and it needs to go back to being used for what it was intended for, a mall. No one will ever be able to convince me that it won't make money, because it will. When Roses opened in Colony Plaza, white and blacks flocked to the store. It's proximity to the Augusta Mall will not have any effect on it. But in reality, I already know no one is going to dump tens of millions of dollars into the Regency mall because Augusta just isn't big enough, yet. The best option is for that mall to be torn down. I'd rather have the money that is meant to go to the lake/pond be used on renovating the James Brown Arena or developing retail on the river walk. But we all know our government isn't going to do it.

[nortonguy]

If you look at Augusta mall compared to Savannah or Oglethrope malls. Augusta mall is alot bigger, nicer, and has more upscale stores/restuarants than both put together. Apple, Sephora, PF Changs, Chop House, Williams Sonoma, etc. Augusta mall is 1.1 million sq. ft excluding the promenade.

Village at Riverwatch, Augusta Mall, and Wheeler Town Park are in 10 minutes of each other. VAR and WTP aren't the traditional enclosed malls. They're going to be similar to the promenade at Augusta mall. The outdoor village/lifestyle center concept. Surrey Center and Augusta Exchange are in 10 minutes of the above three shopping mall/lifestyle center.

I agree with the developers. Augusta is big enough to support three mall/lifestyle centers in 10 minutes of each other.

[EastsideDave]

My apologies in advance for the long post...

In regards to the malls in Savannah, both Savannah and Oglethorpe Malls are smaller than Augusta Mall (they are around 950K square feet, Augusta Mall is over 1.3 million square feet). Also, they have a different mix of stores. Savannah Mall is anchored by a Dillards, Target, Bass Pro, and Burlington Coat Factory. Also, Savannah Mall has recently seen a sharp decrease in the number of national brand stores and now has a larger number of mom-n-pop stores. Oglethorpe on the other hand is anchored by Macys, Sears, JC Penny, and Belk, and has more of the national brands like you find in Augusta Mall. I'll make this comparison, Savannah Mall is like the Aiken Mall (strong anchors keeping the mall afloat, but a lot of local tenants in the rest of the mall because chains don't want to locate there), while Oglethorpe Mall is like the Augusta Mall. The majority of people who shop at Aiken Mall are residents of Aiken, but Augusta Mall shoppers come from throughout the CSRA. Augusta is unique in that we have one huge main mall that gets all the stores and all the shoppers, whereas other cities our size might have 2 smaller malls that split up the stores, like Savannah.
Sky City: Southern Retail Then and Now: Savannah Mall
Sky City: Southern Retail Then and Now: Oglethorpe Mall: Savannah, GA

With malls, it's all about demographics. Regency is basically surrounded by low and lower middle class neighborhoods, while Augusta Mall is surrounded by more middle class residents and is extremely close to the upper class residents in National Hills and Columbia County. The West Augusta area has residents with a lot more disposable income than South Augusta has, which is why your seeing all these major retail developments in West Augusta, plus the I20 frontage really helps.

I agree that no one is going to dump millions of dollars back into Regency to make it a mall again, even if a developer thought a mall would survive in South Augusta, it's far easier to just start from scratch than try and renovate the Regency building. The best bet for the city right now is to seize the mall property on some trumped up charge, tear down the building and just sell the land at a reduced rate, then something like a Home Depot could build there or something...or the city should just rezone the land as residential...