Two construction projects, one visible to passing motorists and the other not, will have impact on the traffic and character of Hog Mountain Road between Butler’s Crossing and the Civic Center and Oconee County High School if they are built as planned.
The visible project, fronting on Hog Mountain Road, is to be built in phases, according to its preliminary site plan, and to consist of six buildings, including the relocated historic white house on the site.
A restaurant with an outdoor patio area is proposed as the first building on the part of the lot closest to Hillcrest Drive.
The second project is envisioned as a extension of the existing Colony Square shopping center, which abuts the third phase of the six-building development project fronting on Hog Mountain Road.
The project consists of seven new office and warehouse buildings at the current end of Jamestown Road.
Zoning for the six building complex, being called Jones’ Corner in honor the historic Abe Jones House on the site, was completed in 2019. The site plans were approved in February of 2020, but none of the planned buildings has been constructed.
Zoning for the office and warehouse complex, being called Silo Park Colony Square, from a silo structure that will anchor the corner of the property, was completed in 2000. Site plans for projects were approved in June of 2021.
The land has been cleared for construction at both sites.
Hog Mountain Road
If Jones’ Corner is completed as proposed, Hog Mountain Road will be largely developed on the south side from Butler’s Crossing to Union Church Road.
A five-acre parcel fronting on Hog Mountain Road between Windsor Drive and Hillcrest Drive is the exception. That parcel remains wooded and zoned for agricultural use.
The University of Georgia farms remain undeveloped on the north side of Hog Mountain Road from Union Church Road to just east of Burr Harris Road.
Hog Mountain Road is a state route, so regulation of traffic on the road is under the control of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
The county has announced that a traffic light will be installed at the intersection of Union Church Road and Hog Mountain Road
County Administrator Justin Kirouac said on Friday that “The last update we received was that it was awaiting final signature from GDOT.”
“We're working to get a more detailed schedule,” he said.
Jones’ Corner
The approved site plans for Jones’s corner show a 6,000 square foot restaurant building with a 2,000 square foot patio area on the eastern-most lot in the complex.
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| Relocated Jones House 7/8/2022 |
This is labeled as Phase I of the project.
The next building, moving west, includes a 3,000 square foot restaurant and an attached 5,000 square foot of commercial space. This will be Phase II of the project.
The western-most building, Phase III, is an 15,000 square foot general retail, mixed use building.
These three buildings are part of the property zoned B1 for Business use.
Office Buildings
The rear of the lot is zoned for Office Institutional Professional use and consists of a 6,825 square foot building, a 6,000 square foot building, and the relocated Jones House, which is 2,200 square foot in size and will be used as an office building.
The six-acre-tract had been rezoned in 2014, with the Jones House featured for a restaurant.
Efforts to use the building for that purpose failed, and the 2020 rezone moved the historic house to the rear of the property and proposed the larger restaurant on the site of the relocated house.
The Abe Jones House and is on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the database of the National Park Service.
None of the proposed five new buildings is under construction at this time.
The developer for the project is Bath Family Development of 2430 Snows Mill Road.
Dominick’s Restaurant, across Hog Mountain Road in Market Center, has closed, and that building remains unoccupied. Dominick’s did not include outdoor dining.
Colony Square Rezone
Silo Park Colony Square will be located behind what is now labeled Colony Square Business Center at the end of Jamestown Road.
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| Colony Square |
The nearly 20 acre parcel on which Silo Park will be located was zoned Office Business Park in 2000 as part of a much larger set of rezones for the Carl Maxey Estate. Included in the 20 acres was the roadway itself.
The larger rezone included an 87-lot residential subdivision spread across 134 aces at the end of Jamestown Road.
That subdivision was never built, but the land remains zoned for residential use.
The front of the property became what is now Colony Square shopping center, though 1.6 acres between the existing shopping center and Jamestown Road remain undeveloped.
Ownership of these properties has changed over the years.
The 4.3 aces that is the developed shopping center is owned by K&B Management Inc., of Sugar Hill, in Gwinnett County, according to county tax records.
The 1.6 acres of undeveloped land between the shopping center and Jamestown Road is owned by MLKB II LLC, 1171 Creek Hollow Road, off New High Shoals Road. Alvin Bridges of Athens is the organizer.
Silo Park
In May of last year, KROJO LLC purchased 7.3 acres from the 20 acres zoned for Office Business Park, according to county tax records.
KROJO LLC was organized in 2019, according to the Secretary of State business database, and is based in Athens.
Joseph Polaneczky and Kristopher Robinson are two of the organizers. The others are Emily Robinson and Rachel Allen.
Polaneczky is founder and broker of Nabo Realty, located in Falls of Oconee Shopping Center on Old Macon Highway.
Already existing on the property purchased by KROJO in May of last year are two buildings, with 13 individual properties not included in the purchase, according to county records.
The purchase does include the parking area as well as the acreage behind the existing buildings.
It is on the undeveloped land that KROJO LLC plans to build the new office park.
Because the property initially was zoned for the use proposed by Polaneczky and Robinson, the changes to the plans have been handled administratively without a rezone, Guy Herring, Director of Planning and Code Enforcement for Oconee County, said on Tuesday.
Specifics Of Plans
Silo Park will consist of seven new buildings, one of which will face Jamestown Boulevard, according to the site plans.
Two buildings will be behind that new building on Jamestown Boulevard, and four will be behind the existing two buildings.
Total square footage of the seven new buildings is 66,000, according to the approved site development plans, with 13,200 of that expected to be used for offices and 52,800 for warehouses.
The total square footage of the initial rezone was 162,000 across nine buildings.
The two existing buildings, built in 2004, are a total of 19,500 square feet.
News Release
The buildings will be designed to accommodate offices of various sizes and include warehouse space with roll up doors in the back, according to a news release sent out by KROJO organizer Allen on June 1.
“The development of the property, just off Hog Mountain Road, is finally completing the business center associated with Colony Square, a decades old planned development in the county,” the release states.
According to a sales brochure from Nabo Realty, five of the seven buildings already are under contract.
Occupancy is expected to be available in the Fall of 2022, according to the brochure.
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