Demolition of Hight Homes is under way as negotiations for the sale of the 9-acre tract continues with Madison Retail LLC. (Doug Walker, RN-T)
(From left) Ed Allen, Vice President of Development for Madison Retail speaks with local business leaders Ed Watters and Will Byington after revealing Friday that the Public site selection committee had chosen the Hight Homes property for a new grocery store to serve Rome. (Doug Walker, RN-T)
“We’re fortunate to have gotten (site selection) committee approval,” Charles Worthen, a principal with Madison Retail LLC, told members of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Economic Development committee on Friday.
Development and leasing executives with Madison met with the chamber panel and described the Hight Homes property at North Fifth Avenue and Turner McCall Boulevard as the bull’s-eye in a map of competitive grocery stores that serve Rome. Worthen said Madison officials are still working out the details of a formal lease agreement with Publix.
Publix public relations personnel have said they could not comment until a contract is signed.
Worthen told members of the Rome-Floyd Planning Commission earlier this month that if Madison had not gotten a green light from Publix, the whole Hight Homes project might not come to fruition.
Publix was also considering a site on Riverside Parkway across from Ridge Ferry Park that could be developed by Ledbetter Properties, Madison officials said earlier.
Heather Seckman, economic development director for the chamber, said that Publix has been interested in Rome for a long time. “Publix representatives would come in once a year to get demographic information and we’ve apparently gotten there,” Seckman said.
Ed Allen, vice president of development for Madison Retail, pointed out that the Hight Homes site is one of the highest traffic locations in Rome, with more than 33,800 vehicles per day passing by the intersection. He also said that the average household income in the Rome area had grown to just under $53,000 and said that 57,000 people live within a five-mile drive of the location.
Allen said that the planning commission has already recommended a rezoning of the nearly nine acre parcel to community commercial status, but indicated that a number of variances would still need to be approved based on the proposed layout of the development.
“We’re looking forward to helping Romans decide where they’ll eat and shop for the next decade or so,” said Brett Lesley, vice president of leasing with Madison. “We’re getting great feedback from tenants that have never been able to get into Rome.” Lesley said Publix generally likes more high-end retail stores in developments with them. “We have seen this kind of pre-development leasing activity in a long time,” Worthen added.
Worthen said that the development might include as many as three restaurants. Lesley and Joe Ashkouti, a leasing executive with Madison, both encouraged members of the committee not to be shy in making suggestions regarding potential tenants for the development.
“There’s a lot of buzz,” said Curtis Gardner, owner of Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q on Shorter Avenue and chairman of the economic development committee. “It’ll sure look a lot better that what’s there now for sure.”
The new shopping center will be known as Charles Hight Square. “We made a commitment to using Charles Hight in the name some time ago,” Worthen said. The public housing units on the property now being demolished were named in honor of Hight.
The developers said they hope to break ground in the fall or late winter, with construction expected to take 12-14 months. Worthen had previously indicated that Publix was hopeful of getting into the location in time for the Christmas season in 2011.
turtleman
We cut coupons and shop the weekly deals. Publix doubles coupons up to $0.50 and I think one day a week they triple them. If you take in a coupon for another store's brand item, i.e. Kroger milk, they will honor that coupon for Publix brand milk. Also they will let you use coupons on sale items. We have saved lots of money on our food bills, which has always been worth the gas to Cartersville. Our record savings is $178 saved on a single week's trip.
As far as their meat, we are not a gourmet meals type of family, so the meat at Publix is great for us. If we want a good thick slice of meat to grill, we will simply go to GNC in Coosa for that meat. Once in a blue moon when we get in the mood for fresh seafood, we'll take a quick trip to Chattanooga to the Fresh Market and get that.
I can't wait for Publix and, maybe even a Target, to get into Rome and bring in some good competition to the immediate area; and save thrifty families even more money.
LOL! But you're still going to have to dumb it down more. Real knot two brite.
At least, now, we're still at a point where I hear people complain about Rome traffic and I laugh. Anybody who has ever lived within a 30 mile radius of ATL laughs when TRUE locals complain that it takes 15-20 minutes to get from one end of town to the other... In ATL 15-20 minutes to get through a traffic light and you feel a little happier at the end of the day.
More convenient to who, you? They are both in a "congested traffic area". Rome is a congested area so maybe up in The Pocket would be better.