Restauranteur unveils plans for downtown lot in Loganville

By Jim Thompson – The Walton Tribune

Unofficial presentation gives DDA first look at potential new eatery

Framed by a sign reading ‘Welcome to Downtown Loganville’ and a pickup truck passing along Main Street on Thursday as part of the Loganville High School Homecoming Parade, the nearly empty tract at 254 Main St. doesn’t look like much. It is, however, a linchpin in the effort to revitalize Loganville’s downtown area. On Thursday, the Loganville Downtown Development Authority heard from a local restaurateur who has some ideas for transforming the city-owned tract. Photo credit: Jim Thompson – The Walton Tribune

The first response to the Loganville Downtown Development Authority’s request for qualifications from individuals and entities interested in developing the essentially vacant lot at 254 Main St. to spur redevelopment of the downtown area was unveiled in an informal presentation at the DDA’s Thursday meeting.

The meeting failed to draw a quorum — a sufficient number of DDA members to conduct business — so no action could be taken on the proposal from Gary Howard, owner of A Bite To Eat, a popular open-air restaurant serving stuffed pita pockets, seafood, wings and other fare at 4447 Atlanta Highway, a little more than a block from Main Street.

Howard’s vision for the 0.47-acre Main Street tract — the DDA is also soliciting interest in an adjoining 0.91-acre trat at 4435 Pecan Street as part of a downtown redevelopment effort being undertaken by the city — calls for construction of a small upscale steakhouse to anchor his project.

Beyond that, his vision calls for construction of some vendor booths for upscale crafts and other items. The enclosed rental booths each would comprise 300 to 400 square feet, Howard told the three DDA members who made it to the Thursday meeting.

Howard called this element of his vision for the tract a “bazaar,” suggesting that it could serve as an incubator for new entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses, but who don’t have the wherewithal to rent a larger space.

In addition, Howard’s vision for the tract includes space for parking multiple food trucks, which he said he would expect to rotate every three months or so, and that would offer breakfast, lunch and dinner options to ensure steady downtown foot traffic amid a continuing variety of food options.

Overall, Howard told the DDA members, he would want his proposed development to concentrate on both local merchants and local customers, “to really incorporate the proud people of the city of Loganville, who would have no problem supporting their neighbor” in establishing and sustaining local businesses.

Howard’s vision differs in some important ways from what the Loganville City Council has expressed as its vision for 254 Main Street, which calls for two- or three-story structures along Main and Pecan streets and a “rooftop terrace opportunity.” There are some similarities in Howard’s proposal and the city council’s vision, made public some months ago, which calls for a “restaurant-ready corner space with integrated courtyard opportunity” at 254 Main Street.

Howard told the DDA that his approach to the tract would be “not to overbuild it” so that rents for the spaces included in his vision would remain within reach for new businesses, allowing them to offer their products at a reasonable price rather than what they would need to charge in order to pay rent for more upscale space.

Some months ago, the DDA and the city council signed an intergovernmental agreement outlining the authority’s power to market and sell one or both properties to the RFQ respondent who, in the DDA’s judgment, offers the best vision for the two downtown tracts. The council must, however, approve any sale of the property.

The DDA has greater latitude than would guide the city council in selling the property, because it is not bound, as the council would be, to accepting the highest bid for the acreage. The DDA will instead be guided by its judgment as to which potential purchaser, such as Howard, will bring the greatest value, in line with the city’s and the DDA’s vision for the property, regardless of the purchase price.

The DDA has previously indicated that it will evaluate RFQ submissions from people interested in developing 254 Main St. on several criteria, from “relevant experience” and “financial capacity” to a “proposed development timeline.”

But exactly how that might shake out as the DDA evaluates responses to its RFQ remains something of a question. At Thursday’s session, DDA member Terry Parsons gave Howard credit for approaching the redevelopment of 254 Main St. in a way that had not occurred to the authority.

“It’s something none of us have thought about, I’ll give you that,” Parsons told Howard. “I like what I saw.”

Argo, too, was interested in Howard’s approach to downtown revitalization, not least because he has roots in Loganville.

“We would love to have someone local” redevelop 254 Main Street, Argo told Howard.