A Duluth developer is proposing a combination commercial and industrial development for a tract of land in the city of Buford.

The 771,075-square-foot development is proposed for land on Friendship Road near I-985, and is predominantly industrial, according to a filing with regional planners.

Aside from showing that 589,000 square feet of the space is industrial and the rest commercial, the filing doesn't include additional detail on the project.

By the end of the business day Wednesday, developer Rick Yost had not returned a telephone call or e-mail seeking comment on the proposal. Buford City Planner Kim Wolfe also did not return a telephone call.

The proposal comes during a down time for commercial and industrial development in the area.

Just 198,450 square feet of industrial space is currently under construction in the northeast Atlanta market, which includes Gwinnett, according to CoStar Group, a real estate tracking firm.

That area hasn't seen anything less than 2 million square feet under construction at any one time in the last two years, said Richard Poland, a CoStar analyst.

"It's just a screeching halt on construction," he said.

Occupancy in the area also has fallen in two of the last three quarters, making new industrial construction a questionable play in the current economy, Poland said.

It's unclear when Yost would plan to begin construction on the project, but the filing with regional planners shows a planned completion date of 2012.