FLOWERY BRANCH — A two-story shopping center, a rare sight in Hall County, is planned off heavily traveled McEver and Lights Ferry roads in South Hall.
Cornerstone Real Estate Group is marketing the seven-acre site, which sits just outside Flowery Branch city limits.
The owner is planning the development, which is advertised on a large billboard at the intersection, said broker Hans Choi.
“But it is basically in the concept stage,” he said. “She did meet up with an architect and draw up some plans, but it is just a preliminary drawing. There’s nothing concrete now — it is all on the drawing board.”
Drawings for the project show a two-story wing and a grocery store, as well as two outparcels on the edge of the property.
The property owner couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
The McEver-Lights Ferry property, surrounded by several neighborhoods and situated a couple of miles from Lake Lanier and Aqualand Marina, is zoned as a planned commercial development, Hall County’s zoning map shows.
Flowery Branch City Planner James Riker and Randy Knighton, Hall County’s planning director, both said they were unfamiliar with the planned development.
“The project probably won’t take effect until probably two to three years from now,” Choi said. “(The owner) is willing to wait until the area improves or gets more developed.”
McEver Road, a main West Hall artery skirting the lake, is mostly residential as it travels from Oakwood to Buford.
There is some spotty commercial development, including at Jim Crow Road in Flowery Branch, where a Waffle House restaurant is about to open.
Also, Choi said, the owner “has some other projects she wants to do. Basically, we’re trying to get our feet wet and see where we are at.”
The billboard has generated a few calls, including “contractors who want to grade the land or whatever,” he said. “Some neighbors (have) called because of concern for the property lines and how it’s going to be built.”
Because the drawing is merely a concept without any government blessings, “I couldn’t definitively tell (neighbors) where the building is going (to be) or if we’re going to have a buffer.”