A big-box shopping center is headed to Monroe, the latest major economic development project in Walton County.
The 350,000 square-foot complex along U.S. Highway 78 will feature a Publix supermarket, as well as Ross, ULTA, Marshalls and other retailers.
Construction on the $80 million development known as Monroe Pavilion will begin in March with an estimated opening in the summer of 2021, said Beau Young, executive vice president at Retail Specialists.
MAB American Management, the U.S. partner of an Australian development company, recently bought the 100-acre site. Retail Specialists, of Birmingham, Ala., will handle leasing and facility management.
Walton County has been an active recruiter of new economic development projects. Hitachi Automotive Systems America announced in May a $100 million expansion of its auto-parts manufacturing facility. Top Polymer Enterprise, a Chinese plastics manufacturer, is opening a $15 million plant near Social Circle. Facebook is building a $750 million data center in northern Newton County, near the border with Walton County.
Despite its employment growth, Walton County needs more retail amenities, Young said. Many developers have overlooked Monroe because of its close proximity to larger towns like Athens and Snellville, he added.
About 90,000 people live within a 10-mile radius of the shopping center site, with an average household income of about $66,000, according to Retail Specialists’ data.
The Monroe shopping center site is located inside a federally designated Opportunity Zone, making its developers eligible for tax incentives. About 9,000 Opportunity Zones were designated nationwide in 2017, as a way to stimulate development in low and moderate-income communities.
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