Nearly three years after approving a plan for Atlanta River Walk in Braselton, the Hall County Planning Commission approved a scaled-down version of the project for the same property on Old Winder Highway.
The original development company, ARW Group, LLC, was unable to put together enough investors for the massive multi-use project in 2016, but one of those investors, Reveille Development Partners, LLC, has now come to the table with a smaller version of the development.
The request to amend the conditions of the Planned Commercial Development (PCD) and Planned Residential Development (PRD) on almost 509 acres was tabled in April, but came back before the planning board Monday evening.
After almost an hour and a half of discussion, the board unanimously approved the amendments with several conditions. Board chairman Chris Braswell recused himself from the discussion and vote. (Follow this link to find the full request from Rotunda Land and Development Group, LLC, the developers of the Reveille project.)
Officials with the development company told the members of the planning commission the new Reveille development will still offer a large residential component - more than 1,900 residential units - and the target would be young professionals and empty nesters.
"Reveille is going to be a true live-work-play community," said Henry Massie, a senior vice president with Rotunda Land and Development Group. "[It will be] like nothing Hall County has ever seen. This truly is smart growth at its core."
John Walker with the development company addressed concerns of traffic on the busy GA 211/Old Winder Highway corridor in Braselton.
"Things that are high traffic generators would be your shopping center, your retail, your office and there's about 360,000 square feet less office and about 135,000 square feet less retail [with Reveille]," Walker said. "So that translates into less traffic."
The Reveille plan also calls for one hotel on the property - rather than the two hotels that were part of the original project. Massie also noted 153 acres of the project will be devoted to open space and green space, which he indicated is about 30% of the property.
Board member Gina Pilcher did express concerns during the discussion when developers could not answer questions about specific lot sizes and square footage for the residential components of the project; developers would only say the sizes would be market driven.
Ultimately, Pilcher voted for the amendment request, saying after the meeting, she felt Reveille is a good project for the area.
"We need this kind of quality development," Pilcher said. "I made those comments in hopes that they will seriously sit down and have those conversations about what those specifics are prior to the county commission meeting, so that neighbors will have added information to make them feel a little bit better about it."
Reveille has promised to establish a website for the project so neighbors and other interested parties can keep up with the progress on the project. The web address is www.reveillega.com; the site was not active as of Tuesday at noon.
The request goes before the Hall County Commission on Thursday, June 13 at the Hall County Government Center on Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville.
