Part 1 - Remembering the Old Days of Roswell Plaza
Part 2
Efforts to Revive a Struggling Roswell Plaza
Just before the property started to fall into struggles due to the suburban sprawl, Coro Realty had purchased the property at what was then the height of the market, just ahead of the recession. Around 2015, the owner started negotiations for a 20-year lease agreement with the site potentially being the new home for a major Discount Store (now located on Hwy 9); as well as, attempt to redevelop the Frazier Street Apartments (later sold). During that time, the City Council reached out to Coro Realty with hopes of helping make something desirable of the pivotal location.
Options were explored to see what was financially viable and allowed by code. Efforts were made to help recruit a much-desired grocery store, but it was clear (at the time) the area didn’t have the demographics or density for a grocery owner’s requirements.
Council quickly learned that they needed a collaborative commission to take on such project --- the Roswell Downtown Development Authority (DDA). And the timing was right since City Council and the DDA were already in conversations about the overall redeveloping needs of sites within Roswell.
The Roswell Plaza property was identified as one of the top 4 distressed properties that are catalytic to Downtown Roswell’s landscape.
The City then stepped aside and connected the DDA with Coro Realty to work through many years of finding a solution. Even after 2 years of effort, there was still a gap between what was acceptable to the City, the DDA, and what was feasible for Coro Realty. Therefore, the DDA put the property under contract in 2015, with the City closing on the property in 2016. Mayor & City Council turned it over to the DDA to lead the redevelopment. “The DDA provided the mechanism, and more importantly the expertise, for the purchase, management, planning, and ultimately, the sale of the Roswell Plaza property to the City.
“The DDA provided the mechanism, and more importantly the expertise, for the purchase, management, planning of the property. ”
Owning the property meant the City could be more deliberate about getting the right project in this pivotal location. Once it became City property, the DDA was asked to spearhead identifying potential development partners that would be more in line with what the public wanted.
