Goodwill Industries has selected the location for its new retail store and training center.

The organization plans to purchase the Village West Shopping Center at Furys Ferry and Washington roads for its Goodwill Career Campus, said Jim Stiff, the president of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA. He expects the deal to close on Sept. 2.

Mr. Stiff acknowledged the undertaking is Project Richmond 2, the name given to a project at the June meeting of the Development Authority of Richmond County, which approved a $22.5 million bond financing inducement resolution. The secret name allowed paperwork for the bonds to be drafted while the real estate deal was still in negotiations.

The campus will be built in two phases. The first involves a new Goodwill retail store with a donation drive-through, a second Goodwill Job Connection location for the Augusta area and a Good Books Cafe -- a 3,000-square-foot space that will sell 15,000 new and used books, along with coffees, pastries and sandwiches.

The second phase is a training center that will be completed during the next three to five years, Mr. Stiff said.

"This piece of property really seems ideal. It's at the corner of two things that are very important for our project: The first thing is that we had to be on a bus line for the people that we serve ... that don't have their own transportation," Mr. Stiff said.

"The second thing is that we needed to be where individuals with higher disposable income would come to donate, shop and participate in our future campus businesses that we're going to create."

Goodwill Industries' new retail store, designed to be a training store, replaces the location that closed on Wylds Road in February. The store will be "by far the most attractive store in the state of Georgia," he said.

"We'll be doing hiring. We're looking for at least 40 full-time equivalent positions," Mr. Stiff said.

It should open before Christmas but will cause four businesses to relocate.

"It involves four tenants at Village West that have already been given notice by the current landlord. All of those individuals have been offered alternative space by the landlord at one of his other shopping centers," he said

Goodwill Industries will occupy 35,000 square feet of the 85,000-square-foot shopping center, from Elegant Bridals to The Antique Market. The training center would likely be an expansion, Mr. Stiff said.

On Monday, Elegant Bridals and The Antique Market had store relocating signs posted.

Another store affected by the project, Georgia-Lina Billiards, plans to close its doors rather than relocate, said manager Tammy Teel. Sales have been down, and rent at the new location would be more expensive. The store's last day is Friday.

"I'll be looking for a new job next week," Ms. Teel said.

The fourth business affected is Coco's Cabana.

The training center originally had been proposed for the Golf Hall of Fame property on Reynolds Street. They also considered property on Wheeler and Pleasant Home roads, according to Mr. Stiff.

In addition to bond financing, the organization is working on other sources of funding, Mr. Stiff said. The bond financing could be finalized by the development authority's August meeting.

"They came in knowing what they wanted to do and the type of services they wanted to offer the community. We got as excited as they did," said Walter Sprouse, the executive director of the development authority.

With the region's high unemployment rate, the new facility "will take some of the pressure off" the Job Connection office on Peach Orchard Road, Mr. Stiff said. At Village West, he said he expects to place 500 people into jobs and assist 2,100 people with intensive career development services.

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.