OAKWOOD — The Oakwood Planning Commission gave its OK Monday night to rezonings and annexations for a proposed mixed-retail development that may someday feature a big-box anchor and high-rise hotel.

Preliminary plans call for a shopping center featuring a 46,360-square-foot business, possibly a grocery store, and two other stores with a combined 29,680 square feet.

The 21-acre site between Interstate 985 and Atlanta Highway also could include a gas station and another 102,000 square feet of stores and restaurants.

Also, Buford-based Wayne Clark & Associates is looking at trying to attract a six- to eight-story hotel to the corner of the property near I-985 and Mundy Mill Road, said Shane Clark, the company’s vice president of construction.

The proposed rezonings and annexations now will go before the Oakwood City Council for its consideration.

"We have been trying to get this property in the city for 15 years," said Linda Dotson, also of Wayne Clark, to the commission.

According to a site map, a new road would be built through the development from Mundy Mill Road, between QuikTrip gas station and Regions Bank, to Robert Wood Johnson Drive at Atlanta Highway.

A traffic light is now at both intersections.

The new road "should be a benefit in moving traffic from Atlanta Highway to Mundy Mill Road," said City Planner Larry Sparks.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is widening Mundy Mill Road and Atlanta Highway as part of a $75 million reconstruction project set to end in February 2010.

The project includes a new I-985 interchange at Atlanta Highway. The interchange is partially open as DOT crews are working to build a new northbound entrance ramp from Mundy Mill Road to I-985.