The City of Woodstock announced plans for Woodstock City Center, an additional 3.5-acre mixed-use district added to the existing city center site planned for the heart of downtown Woodstock. The City held a competitive selection process for a development partner for its downtown property holdings previously and selected Morris & Fellows, the firm behind the successful Woodstock Downtown project and Alpharetta City Center, among others.

The City also announced that the last piece of land needed to move forward with development is under contract. An arrangement is in place with Morgan’s Hardware to relocate the store to another location near downtown and create the assemblage needed to develop City Center.

“Over the years, the City has been presented many plans for this land that we knew our citizens would not like, from big boxes to highly dense projects,” said Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques. “We reviewed numerous partner options and proposed plans, and Morris & Fellows is the clear choice based on their history of successful downtown redevelopments and their lower density approach to address our needs and vision.  We are very focused on creating a City Center in keeping with the existing downtown character and Morris & Fellows shares that vision.”

“After looking at options for my property over the last several years, I am pleased that the City has stepped forward to lead redevelopment of the project which will fit with the overall character of downtown Woodstock. It’s also great that the City has agreed to help me with the relocation of our business to a place that will allow easier access for our customers. I am excited that our store will be able to continue to serve our customers and the community for many years to come” said Mike Morgan.

The City also announced details and benefits for the City Center development:

• After much review, the City concluded this is the best location to add much-needed downtown parking, which will be an integral part of the City Center development.

• The site allows for much-needed improvements to the intersection of East Main Street and Arnold Mill Road at Main Street and additional pedestrian connectivity in the Arnold Mill corridor

• Initial concepts call for a mix of additional retail, professional office, restaurant space and boutique hotel with meeting space.

Project timing, details and renderings will be released in the coming weeks and months as plans develop.  Updates also will be available on the City of Woodstock website – www.woodstockga.gov