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The Village at Riverwatch

PJA

By PJA
in Augusta

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jungletobacco Whistle-Stop

jungletobacco

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A very sad pattern Augusta is going in everytime something developes. I dont agree with the stall...Augusta is a renowned city so if those business havent decided to come, sooner or later they will. Why are trying to fit all these store in one center? theres got to be a cut off point so we can move on. tell the business who are undecided,"yeah we have enough tenant for the Riverwatch but we have plenty of room downtown and the Riverwalk right down the street."

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CanukInAugusta Whistle-Stop

CanukInAugusta

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An alternate view:

http://blogs.augusta.com/node/779

"In the epic battle for the hearts and minds of Augusta-area shoppers, it appears that Augusta Mall is winning the war.

Sources say the mall's outdoor "lifestyle center" addition under construction at the site of the former Macy's store is sucking most of the high-end retailers away from a rival lifestyle center project at River Watch Parkway and Interstate 20.

Face it, there's only so many upscale retailers to go around. Unlike Dollar Generals and nail salons (which we can't seem to get enough of) you can't have more than one Williams & Sonoma in a market the size of Augusta.

The backers of the River Watch Parkway project, called The Village at Riverwatch, earlier this week announced they were pushing completion of the project back nearly a year, reportedly to expand the shopping center to include more stores, restaurants and a hotel with an exhibition center.

A spokesman for the developer of the Village at Riverwatch developer, however, declined to disclose potential tenants at the site other than those already named: Dillard's, Belk and Starplex Cinemas.

Could the delay and concept tweak be a sign that most upscale retailers have already committed to Augusta Mall? Some in the real estate development industry think so.The mall is owned by General Growth Properties Inc., a $3 billion real estate investment trust in Chicago that operates more than 220 malls throughout the U.S. The Village at Riverwatch project is being headed by Dallas-based MG Herring Group, which is no small potatoes, but is not in the same league as General Growth.

So when it comes to negotiating with a tenant, who do you think is carrying the bigger guns?

To be fair, the General Growth folks haven't disclosed any tenants at its lifestyle project other than Coldwater Creek and Coach. But they haven't changed their project mid-stream, either.

Perhaps Atlanta-based Cousins Properties saw the writing on the wall last year when it scuttled its plans for a lifestyle center at the intersection of River Watch Parkway and Furys Ferry Road. It later joined forces with the MG Herring Group to market the Village at Riverwatch site.

So what about the developers of the two other proposed lifestyle center-style projects in area (the Marshall Square project in Evans and the Atlanta-based Forum Development Group project on Walton Way Extension) that haven't even broke ground yet?

I'd say that if those projects make it to fruition, they're going to have a hard time finding high-end tenants -- once the mall and Riverwatch projects are finished feasting, there's not going to be anything left but scraps."

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PJA Hamlet

PJA

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A very sad pattern Augusta is going in everytime something developes. I dont agree with the stall...Augusta is a renowned city so if those business havent decided to come, sooner or later they will. Why are trying to fit all these store in one center? theres got to be a cut off point so we can move on. tell the business who are undecided,"yeah we have enough tenant for the Riverwatch but we have plenty of room downtown and the Riverwalk right down the street."
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Pillsbury Burg

Pillsbury

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Oh great, so they come in, rape the land, and then change their mind? This town is big enough and has enough nouveau riche yuppies to support a couple ofCrate and Barrels and a freaking Gucci store if they opened one up here. What's wrong with these people?

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PJA Hamlet

PJA

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I don't think they're changing their mind. It's just that several of businesses are wanting to come to the center so they are going to have to redraw plans because those businesses weren't included in the original plans.

By the way I went to Comcast yesterday and there was still work being done on the Village. I think that was for phase one though...no buildings built yet.

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CanukInAugusta Whistle-Stop

CanukInAugusta

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I don't think they're changing their mind. It's just that several of businesses are wanting to come to the center so they are going to have to redraw plans because those businesses weren't included in the original plans.

By the way I went to Comcast yesterday and there was still work being done on the Village. I think that was for phase one though...no buildings built yet.

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socaguy Hamlet

socaguy

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I really dont think Augusta has anything to worry about. If they are still doing at least SOME work on phase 1, they wouldnt be even thinking about pulling out. Why waste the extra money? Anyone remember how long that Wheeler rd. mega big box complex (I cant even think of its name) took to get completed, even after they cleared the land originally. Well, it was a looooooooong time..like 4-5 years, and that is for the first buildings to start going up. The Augusta mall expansion surely will take some of the retailers that the Villages could have had, but I dont think the expansion is really going to have a large number of stores...so there will be plenty more for the taking for the Villages. Hell, if 2 department stores and a Dicks sporting goods have committed, I dont think it will be too hard to draw more stores, especially when Augusta IS large enough to support more than one location of semi-upscale stores.

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CanukInAugusta Whistle-Stop

CanukInAugusta

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I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen since work hasn't even started on it yet and it looks like the Village is getting more stores. Now I could see the Village and the Augusta Mall having some of the same stores but not the Forum. It's only a couple of minutes from both places but then again it depends on how many stores there are that have yet to come to Augusta.
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PJA Hamlet

PJA

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Well that's just his opinion. I think he's reading in between the lines as well so to speak. But according to the other articles it would appear that the opposite is true...that they actually are having more businesses approaching them about becoming tenants. I guess we'll know for sure in the next six months.

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socaguy Hamlet

socaguy

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Its good to see Augusta will finally be getting a Banana Republic.

Glad to see all projects (including Marshall Sq. in Evans) which I was giving up on are still a go, with just variations from original concepts, (most are adding residential, office and hotel components to make up for the retail which seems to be heading towards the Lifestyle Center at Augusta Mall.

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CanukInAugusta Whistle-Stop

CanukInAugusta

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Its good to see Augusta will finally be getting a Banana Republic.

Glad to see all projects (including Marshall Sq. in Evans) which I was giving up on are still a go, with just variations from original concepts, (most are adding residential, office and hotel components to make up for the retail which seems to be heading towards the Lifestyle Center at Augusta Mall.

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BuckeyeInGA Crossroads

BuckeyeInGA

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New to the Forum but here goes...

I feel that its a real shame the way the developers were going to use the land. I love the "Lifestyle Centers". I got hooked on Easton Town Center in Columbus (Ohio). Of course it was built over farm fields and some light industry. Les Wexner (owner of Limited, Vicky's Secret, Bath and Body Works, AF, etc) was the driver. Great Mixed use (housing, hotels, Shops, Department stores, Theme Bars, Restaurants, etc) with Big box stores in the distance.

But an example that I think would work here is the Waterfront in Homestead (Pittsburgh). Smaller plan with the shops clustered and Restaurants strung out along the Monongahela River. And there are apartments just down the river. They could do that here and have a place that people would want to see and come to...

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PJA Hamlet

PJA

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I went to pay my bill at comcast today and there were still some people working over there. I tend to believe the developers over the media. They stated that they simply had more offers for businesses and restaurants and were expanding the project to include them which is why they are putting the project on hold. The villages are planning on having about 100 stores and the Augusta mall expansion is only going to add probably about 10 to 15 stores and two restaurants...I highly doubt they "stole" all of the retail from the Village.

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Pillsbury Burg

Pillsbury

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New to the Forum but here goes...

I feel that its a real shame the way the developers were going to use the land. I love the "Lifestyle Centers". I got hooked on Easton Town Center in Columbus (Ohio). Of course it was built over farm fields and some light industry. Les Wexner (owner of Limited, Vicky's Secret, Bath and Body Works, AF, etc) was the driver. Great Mixed use (housing, hotels, Shops, Department stores, Theme Bars, Restaurants, etc) with Big box stores in the distance.

But an example that I think would work here is the Waterfront in Homestead (Pittsburgh). Smaller plan with the shops clustered and Restaurants strung out along the Monongahela River. And there are apartments just down the river. They could do that here and have a place that people would want to see and come to...

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augga706 Hamlet

augga706

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Nice pics ! i hope the parking areas, btw stores, & hotels will be bigger than those projects they built. Traffic will be terrible unless those streets are atleast 3 lanes on each side with more than enough parking right by the stores. This will look different than any other in the metro i agree. But i agree downtown will not be hurt with, theatres, skyskcrapers, the riverwalk, n.aug mcmansions, condos, and others along the water it will definitely crush any surburbian canal development

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Pillsbury Burg

Pillsbury

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They've raped the land up there, cleared it of every single tree there, all the while expecting Augusta Mall to roll over like Regency Mall did. Now that Augusta Mall spent a little money, the Village at Riverwatch doesn't know what to do. I think it's a shame.

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