Today we visit Suwanee, envy of all Gwinnett cities.
Reader Seden writes: "When is all the expansion in Suwanee supposed to start and what exactly has been approved? I am referring to the area along Buford Highway adjacent to Suwanee Town Park. Will it be a development similar to Parsons Alley in Duluth?"
Quite a thorough inquiry there, Seddy — and I've got thorough answers.
First: The project you're referring to is a huge one, but it likely wouldn't bare much resemblance to Parsons Alley, the 30,000-square-foot restaurant and retail hub going up in Duluth. There will some similarities, sure — but what's proposed in Suwanee would have a much bigger residential component.
OK...so...what's proposed? To oversimplify: Three buildings with a total of 240 apartments; a parking deck; 70 townhomes and about 30,000 square feet of retail. And an extension of Suwanee Avenue.
It would all look something like the images below:
And that's oversimplifying because...? Because this stuff is complicated, Sed. Real complicated — at least to layfolks like us.
The slightly-less-simplified version is that this is really two different (albeit complementary) projects on two different (albeit adjacent) properties. One of those properties, the one immediately to the west of Town Center, is owned by Suwanee's development authority and has already been properly zoned.
The second property, 18 acres further down Buford Highway that includes an old lumber yard, is under the guidance of Lynwood Developments and still needs to be rezoned.
Go on...That rezoning proposal was scheduled to be heard by Suwanee's planning commission on Tuesday night, but the developers asked for it to be pushed back to the Nov. 1 meeting.
Why? A city spokeswoman stressed that there is "nothing wrong" with the proposal (and the bigger project, as a whole) — just a few needed tweaks like making the proposed townhomes "rear loaded from alleys instead of front loaded."
After getting the planning commission's presumed approval, the development would likely go before the city council on Nov. 15.
So, like, when will it be built? Good question, and one I don't have the answer to. Keep in mind, though, that these things can take a few years -- and don't devote all your daydreaming to this project alone.
Suwanee's got a ginormous new park to look forward to, too. Laser tag as well.
And everyone loves laser tag, Sed. Everyone.
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