GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett Place Mall will soon have a facelift.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners adopted a revitalization strategy on Tuesday that focuses on housing, mobility and greenspace.
The decision comes after two different public input-intensive studies on the area where the mall is and its redevelopment.
Through the studies, the board was able to adopt one of the plans last August. Now known as the Equitable Redevelopment Plan to Reclaim Gwinnett Place Mall. In the plan, residents requested housing, small businesses, a cultural activity center, neighborhood services and jobs.
The second study was a partnership between Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District and the Atlanta Regional Commission through their Livable Centers Initiative program to develop a revitalization strategy that took into account 6,000 community members and market analyses. This will become a concept called the Global Villages, which will be made up of seven different villages surrounding a central park by the mall, according to the board.
Board Chairwoman Nicole Hendrickson said the Global Villages concept is a key piece to the redevelopment.
“The mall revitalization has never been a top-down approach. At its foundation, we wanted to hear public feedback to shape our decisions,” Hendrickson said in a prepared statement. “As our main stakeholders, their opinions, foresight, time and commitment were key elements to confidently move the project forward.”
The Gwinnett Place Mall Site Revitalization Strategy is expected to take place over the next 20 years.
“This is history in the making, and I’m honored to have a front-row seat,” District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden said. “As the commissioner who represents the mall area, I wanted to make sure it is an economic force for Gwinnett County."