County commissioners reveal early plans for aging Gwinnett Place Mall
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County has plans to redevelop Gwinnett Place Mall with a vision of making it a center for people to live, work, eat and shop.
The county purchased 93 acres of land that covers much of the struggling mall and parking lot. Plans are to develop the land into an active center with retail, office and housing space.
The county accepted input from residents, who overwhelmingly said they want to see affordable housing, incentives for businesses in the area, job support and accessible transit.
"It’s not often that we have the chance to revive a site that holds fond memories for so many," said Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson in a written statement. "The County pursued this work with the goal of centering marginalized communities most at risk of displacement through large-scale redevelopments such as this one."
The upcoming project aims to bring an "activity center" near centralized transit. At least three retail stores will stay in the area.
"In the past, we have allowed developers to propose ideas to us, but we took the reverse step in allowing residents to propose ideas in what they want in this site because we truly wanted to center the voices in this community," Hendrickson said.
With findings from the Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall Project and Gwinnett Place Livable Centers Initiative study, the Board of Commissioners will provide proposals for Gwinnett Place Mall's redevelopment.
The county plans to select a proposal by the end of 2022.