While Columbia County Economic Development leaders wait for Trader Joe’s to formalize its transaction to build in Evans, ABD is learning more details about the timing of TJ’s application and the size of the store IF the deal closes.
On Tuesday, October 19th, Columbia County Commission Chairman Doug Duncan announced Trader Joe’s completed its construction permit application. A review of the document indicates that initial engineering and structural reports were filed on behalf of TJ’s before September 14th.
TJ’s contractor Scott Belcher, from Atlanta-based Belcher Construction, completed his application 10 days earlier than Duncan’s announcement at a Commission meeting on October 9th.
Social media responses have been political in nature as to why the announcement was so close to an election and how this could distract from the controversial data center issue. Many others believe that because Trader Joe’s has made the efforts to file necessary paperwork, the deal will go through.
In terms of the numbers, TJ’s will pay Belcher Construction a turnkey fee of $6.45 million for full site development, core and shell construction, and interior fill-out.
The store will be near 12,000 square feet, making it the smallest grocery store in the CSRA. The closest in size we found was Aldi stores.
ABD repeatedly tried to reach Belcher since Friday at the number listed to determine how long construction will take if the deal closes.
Should Trader Joe’s transaction go through, ABD will give you a sense of what will and will not be sold in their smallish, neighborhood grocery store.
