New residential, retail development planned for Zebulon Road
A Macon developer plans to bring a residential and retail development to a section of Zebulon Road where others have failed.
The $30 million project, Lofts at Zebulon, would be built on about 25 acres between 5801 and 5885 Zebulon Road. The site comprises seven contiguous tracts of residential property owned by seven different owners who have agreed to sell their property.
As planned, the 241-unit, pedestrian-friendly development would include some units with garages and amenities such as an outdoor swimming pool, a nearly 3-acre park with walking trails, a fitness center, urban gardens and a Wi-Fi cafe, said Jim Daws, president of Sierra Development Group, who is developing the project with Travis Griffith, president of SPP Commercial Group.
Ground floor retail space will be in one of four, four-story buildings with lofts above. Four outparcels -- lots near Zebulon Road with separate buildings -- are designated for restaurants.
While the project is in the same location where another developer failed to build a shopping center, Daws and Griffith say their project is different in many respects. As one example, the lofts project would be about 90-percent residential.
Birmingham, Alabama-based developer Blackwater Resources tried to build a retail center with 200,000 to 250,000 square feet of space, including five outparcels. It was expected to be anchored by a grocery store.
Many of the residents who live in the area protested that development, and hundreds signed petitions and showed up at multiple Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission meetings, asking the board to deny the rezoning for the project.
The commission approved the rezoning by a 3-2 vote in July 2014. But residents took the matter to court, and in January the court reversed the zoning decision. Blackwater did not pursue the matter further.
“We have been in support of nothing going there since the beginning because we wanted to protect our assets,” Griffith said. SPP developed the shopping centers on both sides of Zebulon Road between Interstate 475 and Northway Church and Carter Elementary School.
But when Blackwater wasn’t successful, Griffith said, “and we saw how close P&Z was to approving (the site plan),” he and Daws began to discuss what might work on the site. But one thing was certain, he said: “We couldn’t handle another Eisenhower Crossing there. ... We could do something to help the whole corridor.”
The Blackwater site plan showed retail buildings placed close to Zebulon Road. A new rendering of the proposed development shows the buildings about 70 feet off the road. Also, 35-foot trees will be placed along Zebulon Road with “a lot of green space between the outparels and other retail” as well as between the development and surrounding houses.
The residential component “will be a progressive development,” Griffith said. “This truly something to scale for the millennials.”
The monthly rent will be higher than the average for apartments in Macon, Daws said. “We would start at about $900 for a one-bedroom (unit) and up to $1,500 for three bedroom units. ... We are trying to create a different vibe in Macon. ... We are trying to raise the bar a little bit.”
FEEDBACK FROM NEIGHBORS
In August, the developers sent letters to residents inviting them to a meeting to learn about the proposed project and inviting their feedback.
Glen Smith, who has lived at 5800 Zebulon Road since 1995 and who helped organize residents to fight the earlier bid, was unable to attend that meeting, but he has since talked with the developers and some of his neighbors about it.
“Well, I along with all the rest of the residents in this area would love to see that property developed in a fashion that is compatible with the surrounding residential uses,” Smith said.
The property is surrounded on three sides by residential developments and on the fourth side by Northway Church at 5915 Zebulon Road at Plantation Centre Drive North.
“So, we have always felt that it, first and foremost, should be developed as a residential property because that’s what fits,” Smith said.
One of the main reasons residents fought the Blackwater project is because it “proposed big-box retail surrounded by a sea of asphalt,” he said. “It was a horrible proposal. It didn’t fit in any way in our neighborhood.”
What Smith has seen so far about the Lofts at Zebulon proposal is that “it is predominately a residential development,” he said. “We appreciate that these folks paid attention to the direction that planning and zoning really wanted to push previous developers. And I think they have been sensitive to the feedback that they received from the community. I’m sure there are many people in this area who don’t want to see that property developed in anything other than (single-family) housing.”
But he gets the impression that residents are at least listening to what the developers are proposing and appreciate their willingness to accommodate the residents’ concerns.
“One thing I do hear is that people want to know they can trust these developers,” Smith said. “You don’t want to feel like you have been promised one thing and something else ultimately gets built. ... At this point, just me personally speaking, I look around Bibb County and see other developments Sierra has built, ... including the Lofts at Mercer Village and Lofts on Bass Road. I appreciate their professionalism. I appreciate their continued investment in this community.
“These are not folks from out of state. ... You like to know who you are dealing with. These are folks you go to church with.”
The developers have planned additional meetings with residents before submitting their plans to the zoning commission. Daws said he hopes to get the application on the zoning agenda by the end of the year.
If everything moves along as hoped, the developers hope to begin construction by the end of next year, Griffin said.
Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Linda S. Morris at 744-4223 or find her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.
This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 6:26 PM with the headline "New residential, retail development planned for Zebulon Road ."