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Ga. 365 industrial park one step closer
Project gains unanimous approval from planning commission
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
A more than 500-acre industrial
park off of Ga. 365 was unanimously
approved by the Hall County Plan
ning Commission Monday, and devel
opers hope that project can help spur
growth in the Ga. 365 corridor.
The Hall County Board of Commis
sioners will cast a final vote on Dec.
13.
The property at 3240 Chiplan
Drive is across the highway from the
Gateway Industrial Centre, which
houses Kubota Manufacturing of
America. In August 2019, construc
tion will begin on an inland port at
the centre. That port would be able
to handle up to 150,000 containers
and could reduce transport costs for
companies in the region.
Brian Rochester of Rochester
and Associates, the firm handling
the industrial park project, said the
development could build off the suc
cess of the Gateway Industrial Cen
tre and take advantage of the nearby
inland port.
“Job growth in the manufacturing
sector is just great for the future of
Hall County, and we think this piece
Hall County Board of
Commissioners
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13
Where: Hall County Government
Center, 2875 Browns Bridge
Road, Gainesville
and its proximity to the new inland
port, with (Ga.) 365 and directly
across the site, will be a great loca
tion for this,” Rochester said. 365
is designated on the future land use
map as an employment corridor.”
Tim Evans, vice president of
■ Please see PARK, 6A
The Times
A Gainesville company is proposing a 519-acre, mostly industrial
development off Ga. 365, north of White Sulphur Road and across
from Gateway Industrial Centre.
Inland port coming to Hall County
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Gov. Nathan Deal speaks Monday Dec. 3, at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville to announce the coming inland port
to be built at Gateway Industrial Centre off Ga. 365 in Hall County.
Construction on $15 million project expected to start August 2019
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A regional terminal for cargo head
ing from the Port of Savannah to area
companies could open in 2021 at the
Gateway Industrial Centre off Ga. 365
in North Hall.
State officials, including Gov. Nathan
Deal, touted and gave more details
about the project, which was announced
earlier this year, at a gathering with
area business and government leaders
Monday, Dec. 3, at Lee Gilmer Memo
rial Airport in Gainesville.
“Let me assure you that what we’re
doing today is a big deal for Gainesville,
Hall County, for the entire region that
we serve here,” said Philip Wilheit,
chairman of the Gainesville and Hall
County Development Authority, speak
ing at Lanier Flight Center at the air
port. “It’s almost overwhelming to me
what this port is going to mean to us.”
Construction is expected to start in
August 2019 on the Northeast Georgia
Inland Port on 104 acres off Gateway
Centre Parkway, along a thin strip of
land next to Norfolk Southern railroad
lines.
The port will serve the Interstate 85
region of Georgia, “an important (area)
for the production of heavy equipment,
food and forest products,” Deal said.
Handling both import and export con
tainers at the Gainesville terminal, Nor
folk Southern will provide service on a
direct rail route to and from the Port of
Savannah’s Garden City Terminal.
At full build-out, it will have the
capacity to handle up to 150,000 con
tainers per year.
“Savannah is a rapidly growing gate
way for global commerce, and Hall
County and the surrounding region in
Northeast Georgia are key areas of
expansion in the state,” said Norfolk
Southern’s Jeff Heller, intermodal and
automotive vice president. Georgia
Ports Authority’s inland port at Gaines
ville, combined with Norfolk Southern’s
■ Please see PORT, 6A
‘Let me assure you
that what we’re doing
today is a big deal
for Gainesville, Hall
County, for the entire
region that we serve
here.... It’s almost
overwhelming to me
what this port is going
to mean to us.’
Philip Wilheit
Chairman of Gainesville and Hall
County DevelopmentAuthority
Visitors to Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville wait at the Lanier Flight Center
hangar Monday, Dec. 3, for a press conference.
New west side
tax district:
School board
notes concerns
JOSHUA SILAVENTI The Times
Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey explains to
the Gainesville City Schools Board of Education
how a tax allocation district for the west side of
the city will work to spur redevelopment. Some
board members expressed concerns about how
redevelopment might impact student enrollment
and housing availability for low-income families.
Members address issues,
worries at Dec. 3 meeting
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
Gainesville’s school board members brought up
several concerns about a new tax allocation district
for the west side of the city during a Dec. 3 meeting.
The Gainesville City Council recently approved
a new tax allocation district for the west side of the
city, with the stated goal of spurring redevelopment
of older retail and residential centers. The impact
the 344-acre TAD — wherein increments in property
taxes resulting from new growth are reinvested in
properties — would have on school enrollment, traf
fic, school tax revenue and housing for low-income
families were among the priorities mentioned at the
Board of Education meeting.
Though acknowledging that redevelopment can
be beneficial in certain places at certain times,
board member Willie Mitchell said he’s also seen its
negative side.
For example, Mitchell said, the redevelopment of
the public housing complex on Atlanta Street into a
mixed-income property now known as Walton Sum
mit plummeted enrollment at nearby Fair Street, an
elementary school primarily serving minority stu
dents from lower-income families.
That’s because even with vouchers to move into
another subsidized unit, Gainesville’s affordable
housing shortage left many families relocating
out of the city, county or, in some cases, becoming
homeless.
Mitchell said Gainesville City Schools saw about
an additional 100 children report being homeless
after the closing of the Atlanta Street complex.
“How can we tell them progress is being made?”
Mitchell asked.
“That’s something we need to be mindful of,” City
Manager Bryan Lackey said.
Board member Heather Ramsey, meanwhile,
questioned how much residential area is included in
the TAD and how this might grow enrollment at a
pace with which the school system might struggle to
■ Please see TAX, 6A
o
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