Avondale Estates making progress on town green construction

Zoe Seiler Feb 16, 2022

Reeves + Young construction superintendent Brian Destefano points out some of the amenities going in at the Avondale Estates Town Green, Feb. 10, 2022. Photo by Dean Hesse.

Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates town green is coming along. The city broke ground on the project in June and so far, sod and tree installations have started, and the Franklin Street connector has been paved.

The play structure has gone up, the stairs leading from the commercial development area to the park have been built, concrete is being poured, and various elements are being placed. Construction is ongoing and work is anticipated to be completed in the spring.

The town green project includes the construction on four-acres of the land. About two acres will be a park and the other two acres will be the commercial development. The site is located along Highway 278/ North Avondale Road between Lake and Oak Streets.

The project is a joint venture between the City Commission, the Downtown Development Authority and the Urban Redevelopment Agency.

The city’s 2014 downtown master plan included converting this acreage into a park. In 2018, Avondale launched an open, public process to determine the best use of the land. Mayor Pro Tem Brian Fisher previously told Decaturish the city received about 13 designs and the thought originally was to take pieces of each design and combine them. But when the commissioners and staff looked at all the designs hanging on the walls of City Hall, “entry number nine” was the favorite.

The concept was submitted by Avondale resident and local architect Sheri Locke in May 2019. Locke’s design included commercial buildings next to the road and a public green space behind them, Decaturish previously reported.

The city reached an agreement and executed a memorandum of understanding with Fabric Developers in November 2019. Fabric Developers worked with their architectural firm, Stevens and Wilkinson, to select the design and construction firms. The City Commission approved a contract with Site Solutions to complete the design of the town green in December 2019.

The Urban Redevelopment Agency approved a contract in May 2021 with Reeves Young for the project construction. The base bid came in at about $5.7 million which includes the park, stormwater, construction of the new street between Washington and Parry Streets.

Avondale Estates has hit some road blocks with the commercial development and determining that the mixed-use commercial development wasn’t feasible last year. But in January, the developers presented construction drawings to the City Commission to move forward with constructing the market pavilion.

At the Sept. 22, 2021, City Commission meeting, Jerry Miller, founder and principal of Fabric Developers, presented plans for a two-part commercial development. One area will be a multi-use pavilion, which could be used for community events, the Avondale Farmers Market, food truck parking or for deliveries. The estimated cost of the pavilion will be about $1.1 million, although the city expects the cost to be less.

The other aspect will be a restaurant-oriented retail commercial development that will include extensive outdoor dining, sundry retail and office space. The estimated cost for the commercial building is about $8.15 million. This cost is separate from the cost of the pavilion.

“[I’m] overwhelmed. It’s so exciting to see something that you’ve worked on in concept for so long actually take shape and see the size and the scope of it,” Fisher said at the groundbreaking ceremony last year. “Hopeful about the impact that it will have on our city and looking forward really to the future commercial development in front and behind the project.”