Planning continues on a new Augusta GreenJackets (Low A; Sally League) ballpark in North Augusta’s Project Jackson, as the final lineup for retail, residential and hotel space in the mixed-use development comes closer.
The latest plans from North Augusta and developer Chris Schoen — an owner of the team, with Jeff Eiseman — includes more details about the ballpark (including a beer garden called the Home Run Porch), 280 apartments, retail, hotel and four kinds of residential units, all served by parking ramps.
Managing Principal Chris Schoen, of Greenstone, said it’s still a work in progress, but a lot of depth and variety has been added to the plans.
“Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is this is taking us forever,” Schoen said. “The good news is that it’s allowed us to get in a lot more detail and we’ve been able to add some additional density. The more density we have for the project, the more people will live there, work there, play there and eat there.”
While millennials have been a big part of the design and thought process behind the development, Schoen said the planned development offers a lot more density and features for everyone to enjoy with amenities for seniors in the mix.
“We started thinking about seniors, and we’ve got over 30 miles of walking, biking and jogging trails that connect to the riverfront,” he said. “That kind of an environment – where they can walk to dinner, walk to entertainment and be in a vibrant community like this – it’s sort of the perfect senior housing location.”
We still don’t have an opening date for the ballpark, however, as much more of the planning needs to be nailed down before construction work can begin. At one time a mid-2017 opening was discussed, but that would require an awfully aggressive construction schedule.
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