City of Woodstock Partners with Morris & Fellows on New City Center

The City of Woodstock and development partner Morris & Fellows have released concept plans for Phase One of the new City Center development downtown. The project is the culmination of over a decade of land acquisition and planning for the nearly 4-acre site at East Main St. and Arnold Mill Rd. When completed, Woodstock City Center will feature a mix of uses, including shopping, dining, office, much-needed parking and a boutique hotel with meeting space (www.woodstockga.gov).

“Morris & Fellows has been privileged to work with the City of Woodstock since the early 2000s. We were the original commercial partner for the visioning and redevelopment of Woodstock Downtown, which has not only been wildly successful, but has also served as an inspiration for other communities nationwide,” said Cheri Morris, president of Atlanta-based Morris & Fellows (www.morrisandfellows.com). “Now, we are ready to move ahead with Woodstock City Center, which will complement the existing shops, restaurants, parks, residences and other amenities in the downtown corridor. The new boutique hotel and commercial office space will bring even more vitality to the city, and the nearly 650-space parking deck will benefit residents, visitors and workers alike.”

The plans for City Center include improvements to public infrastructure such as re-aligning Chambers St. and eliminating a portion of East Main St. to improve access in and out of the commercial district. The parking deck will feature entrances on three levels, to facilitate ease of entry and departure. Work is scheduled to begin in the next six months with project completion estimated at about three years. Morris & Fellows is managing construction of the public infrastructure and will build the privately-owned buildings designed to house retail, restaurant and office space, as well as the boutique hotel with community event space.

“The Woodstock City Center project represents a generational opportunity to add retail, office, hotel and critically-important parking and infrastructure to one of the most popular downtown destinations in Georgia,” said Woodstock Mayor Michael Caldwell. “I am excited to see our city’s skyline transform and for the exciting benefits this will bring for every Woodstock resident and visitor.”

Earlier this year, Morris & Fellows announced the sale of the firm’s Woodstock Downtown holdings along several blocks of Main Street to Burroughs & Chapin, a leader in the ownership, operation and development of high-quality real estate for more than 100 years (www.burroughschapin.com). The sale excluded the historic train depot and grounds, which Morris & Fellows retained to be part of the adjoining Woodstock City Center development. “The fact that a nationally-recognized retail investment firm like Burroughs & Chapin wanted to be part of the success we are experiencing here in Woodstock speaks volumes about this city and its leadership,” said Morris.

About Woodstock, Ga.

Established over a century ago as a railroad and manufacturing town, today Woodstock is Cherokee County’s fastest-growing city. Thanks to the foresight of city leadership and involved citizens, over the past two decades Woodstock has been reinvigorating its downtown district into a thriving, walkable mixed-use community, with new housing, exciting restaurants, outdoor gathering areas, offices, boutique shopping and plenty of pocket parks and greenspaces. Great care was given to preserve the historic character of the city by renovating and repurposing historic structures and designing new buildings that seamlessly blend into the overall architecture of the downtown area. Easily accessible via Interstate 575 and Highway 92, Woodstock has grown 70 percent over the past decade, with development of Woodstock City Center now underway in the heart of downtown. The city has won numerous awards and accolades for its redevelopment, including the prestigious CNU (Congress for the New Urbanism) Charter Award and Georgia Municipal Association’s Live, Work, Play City Award. www.woodstockga.gov

About Morris & Fellows

Morris & Fellows, founded in 1982, develops upscale retail-based mixed-use communities structured as public/private partnerships with their host cities. The Atlanta-based company is known for its development of Woodstock Downtown and Alpharetta City Center, both of which catalyzed transformational revitalizations of the cities’ historic downtowns. Morris & Fellows’ development projects have been awarded the “Development of Excellence” by the Urban Land Institute and the Atlanta Regional Commission, received the CNU International Charter Award for Best Neighborhood-Scale District, named “America’s Best Smart Growth Community” by the National Homebuilders Association, and “America’s Neighborhood” by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. www.morrisandfellows.com