County gets fill of big-box stores

The Columbia County developers who build one fancy little strip mall after another are going to eat a lot of unrented costs. Sadly, the commission allows them to keep building.

I have eaten at Red Robin 3 times and all 3 times both the food and the service were bad.

the growth has been phenomenol, however, i'm sickened by the thought of the lack of thought that may have attributed to these empty strip malls. how much more retail do we need? i'm still holding out for some greenspace and the park that was once proposed behind the Kroger area in Evans. i agree that we definitely need more upscale restaurants in Evans/Martinez area; Bonefish would be a welcomed addition. just my t hought, but the area in front of Kroger from Monterrey's down to Bel Air looks crammed and is already an eye sore with no thought, rhyme or reason. on second thought, its become congested everywhere i look now. the balance has definitely been upset; who wants to subject themselves to all this traffic!!

I think you're wrong when you say "no thought, rhyme or reason". The developers did plenty of thinking when they crammed those strip centers on the sides of the roads...they thought about how much money they can make in as little time as possible! They don't give a rats butt what happens to these poor businesses when they fail. I mean, how many nail salons, cellphone stores, and, now, drugstores do we need around here?? The county commissioners see the money also...don't forget, some of these guys are in the building and banking business so they stand to profit personally. As far as the field behind Kroger...you want to know why it's taking so long for something to be done there? It's because NO MONEY will be made from it, so the powers-that-be are just taking their time with it.

the story still points to the same thing over building all at once. Its the basic supply and demand. Columbia County has too much supply and stiill building more. No one seems to realize the price per square foot will have to drop just to break even. Empty space is empty bank accounts. All these developers are doing is saying; hey wow there is a sucker out there everyday. Planning and Zoning watch your supply and demand a little; yes you need more supply to encourage people to open boutique style. The developers are considering columbia county as a cash cow. All this overbuilding is only going to hurt everyone. The most depressing site is empty buildings during a down turn. Empty buildings will ultimately slow the rebound down. Empty big boxes are so much harder to fill than a whole bunch of smaller stores. The developers seems to be a year behind what the economy/ local market is telling them. Columbia County wake up before you have a Houston, TX on your hands.

Columbia couty is overbuilding on retail/ North Augusta is overbuilding period. However North Augusta is hopefully really careful holding on to some of that valuable river front property and save it for the days when the market is back on the rise. Although those poor condos are taking up valuable space with really bad quality. North Augusta condo bidders "Caveat Emptor"

I am glad to see others feel the same as I do. I have never seen a lack of planning in a community like this. No greenspace, no sidewalk/bike paths to even get to the "development."

The supply is there, but the demand is not. I don't know how many of you have visited the Evans Target since its arrival, but with the exception of Christmas time it is never busy. It's almost like a ghost town at times. I have made special trips to the Augusta Target to get some specialty items only Target carries because the Evans Target doesn't have the items stocked. A Target employee of the Augusta store told me directly that the Evans store had not done what they hoped. Lowes and Home Depot posting 4th quarter losses. I don't know who's brain child that was to give permission for both to build within a spit of each other. Oh, yes, I do. The county commission that's driven by $$$$. Too much development, too soon. As the county budget increases so does the need for revenue. If the Big Box businesses don't float this boat, unfortunately you and I will have to.

If we're unhappy with all the development and lack of planning then we can do something. Become connected and align yourselves with men and women who feel the same. Back candidates in the next election who will look out for this county and protect what we have, not just develop and leave. I know everyone is busy trying to stay afloat but we really need to pay attention and listen to what these commissioners are saying. They best way to predict the future is to look at the past.

I can easily see why business at Red Robin has dropped off.....The burgers are good, but the service is slow and the attitudes of the employees is horrible. Besides, it costs us $40 for three to have dinner! We can go for pizza or Mexican TWICE for that amount. Try making every burger on the menu about $5.99 and the place would be packed, but not at their prices. As for Lowes and Home Depot, I would trust that with the size and success of both chains they would have planning departments that would make informed, calculated decisions on where to put a new store. I only wish Home Depot had built near River Watch and I-20. The would have pulled from both west and north Augusta as well as easy access to Columbia county. At least the developer of that new center was able to bail out before investing many more millions before the down-turn. Living near there though would have meant easy access shopping without going to Evans for my family.

Property Taxes are what drives county growth and development. If you don't want the commercial infrastructure - prepare to pay more for your home-owners taxes. The price of progress is paid with taxes, and Property Taxes are the single largest source of revenue for County Government. My taxes have gone up enough. If I know where the commercial corridors are (which you can find EASILY on the county website under the growth managment plan) then I can avoid them. You yahoos are acting like every other store is empty. Over 50% of small businesses fail in their first year - nationwide, not just here - keep it growing.

Oh man, this lil town should be so lucky to have .0001 the growth of Houston.

But it is not uncommon in a real city to see home depot and lowes across the street from each other. Same thing with Best Buy and Circuit city. They do research on the sites and demographics of the area and believe they can make money there. It may not make sense from some customer's point of view, but it is a successful strategy.

I was hoping for a costco before I pcs out of here, but not likely to happen.

Do the folks making zoning decisions in Columbia County put their faith in the wisdom of the late Dr. Fred Davison who complained, "After all has been said and done, much more will have been said than done?"

Please explain the Houston TX situation. What's going on there?

Either Home Depot of Lowes is going to end up a gym before this is over.

I don't know what he's talking about with Houston. It's booming there, and over 4 million people. It will be quite a while before you can compare Augusta with Houston. Maybe Atlanta would be closer.

Donnie Fetter sat at his desk, made some phone calls to his pals, collected some quotes, and wrote a worthless story to meet his deadline. Here is the quote from Ron Cross: "There are some things we need. Big boxes? I don't know. We need some upper-scale restaurants. We need a Bonefish, a Red Lobster, an Outback and a Carrabba's. They look at population and rooftops, and I think when we're officially over 100,000 we'll get a lot more attention by those people." RED LOBSTER?? If Ron Cross thinks chain restaurants make a great place to live, he is warped! But what bothers me more about his thought process is that he is still absolutely passive about the county's taking leadership. In the article Fetter says, "Once the economy recovers from its downturn, and a new census occurs, Mr. Cross said he believes more specialty shops will come to Columbia County." That's it, Ron. Just wait a while and then let the developers build what is trendy at the time. No planning, no guidance, no leadership. THE COLUMBIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO SAY, "NO" EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE WHEN A DEVELOPER DROPS OFF HIS PLANS AT THE P&Z OFFICE.

How is this for some hard-hitting reporting from Donnie Fetter? Phone messages left for Blanchard and Calhoun Commercial Properties Chief Executive Officer Vic Mills were not immediately returned last week.

And the Planning & Zoning department really has some go-getter employees heading up things: "We certainly would like to see more boutique-style, upscale developments come in," said county planner Justin Snyder. He said he would prefer to see some of the empty retail spaces in Evans fill in before developers recruit more big-box stores. Mr. Snyder said he wouldn't be surprised if more large retail outlets continue to show interest. "With as much commercial property as we have available, you're bound to get some big-box retail," he said. "We'd just like to improve the mix." Notice the passivity. He talks about what he would "like" to happen, but no mention of what he and his department are doing to "make" it happen. They are there at the beck and call of the developers. No planning, just rubber stamping.

If Mr. Cross thinks that chain cookie-cutter restaurants such as Red Lobster and Carraba's and Outback are "upper-scale" (I think he means upscale) then perhaps he ought to get out and about more. Maybe he refers to the revenues they generate for the county.

Churchi, upscale to you could be burger king or Krystal, Cadwallenders or French Market. What is upscale to one person may be run of the mill to another because it all depends on how much money you have as to where you go and what you consider upscale.

I prefer the growth over in North Augusta. Its growing, but it seems to be at a more controlled pace than Columbia County. North Augusta is not trying to become big as Augusta itself over night.

Hope no one's 401(k) or pension fund is heavily invested in those corporations which own or hold the mortgages on the vacant retail spaces or empty single-family residences in our county. Brick and mortar are not delectable food items.

Costco is coming to richmond county. It will be apart of the village at riverwatch lifestyle center. Columbia county is getting to ahead of itself. Alot of martinez residents shop in west augusta mostly or use furrys ferry rd. There is no need to drive to evans washington rd. Grovetown and harlem are just as close to west augusta as evans sometimes. Evans, martinez, or grovetown must grow as individual cities to handle these stores. Not try to use 100,000 in the whole columbia county to serve your point. If you live in grovetown it can be only 15 minutes from the mall. Why drive to evans when it may be further or just as far.

I'd rather get a root canal than drive to or drive through Evans Towne Centre.

I was much happier ten years ago. I didn't mind driving from my home in Columbia County to shop in Richmond County. I could drive there in half the time that it takes me now to shop in Columbia County. Too much construction, too much traffic. We don't need to duplicate everything that already exsists in Richmond County. If you want to attract buisness, attract new buisness- not repeat buisness. We're too big for our britches already.