Chipotle, Select Comfort confirmed for Albany
New businesses join Five Guys, Aspen Dental in strip center
By Brad McEwen
ALBANY — With construction of a new 10,500-square-foot strip center in the heart of northwest Albany almost complete, the company developing the site has announced that all four units in the center have been spoken four now that the final two tenants have agreed to leases.
According to Curt Scott, a development manager with Stafford Properties Inc., Select Comfort, the company that manufactures and sells Sleep Number beds, and Chipotle Mexican Grill will be joining Aspen Dental and Five Guys Burgers and Fries in the strip center located at the intersection of Dawson Road and Westover Boulevard.
The strip center, which has been under construction for the last five months, has been the focus of considerable speculation since Bank of America sold the property to Ameris Bank in 2015.
Ameris quickly sold the property to Stafford, which began demolition of the former bank branch that had occupied the site, in January of this year.
Shortly after construction began, Scott announced that Stafford had entered into lease agreements with Aspen Dental and Five Guys Burgers and Fries and was hoping to work out a deal with Chipotle before summer.
At the time, Scott said he had no doubt the company could find a fourth tenant prior to the completion of the strip center, which he estimated would happen some time in July.
Scott confirmed the Chipotle deal Monday when announcing the lease agreement with Select Comfort. He also reconfirmed that construction is on schedule and that he expects all four businesses to open some time in the fourth quarter of the year.
Related Articles
Dawson City Council uninformed as state freezes sewer loans, audits remain incomplete
With three overdue audits, no Mauldin & Jenkins briefing on Thursday’s agenda and funding deadlines approaching, the larger question is increasingly urgent: How will Dawson pay to finish the work, and what will further delay mean for the future reliability of the city’s water and wastewater systems?
Across a county line, foster care rates reveal stark divide
An abandoned home in Dawson sits overgrown and deteriorating, one example of the city’s ongoing struggle with blighted and unusable housing. Dawson’s long-range planning documents identify both a high vacancy rate and a need for more safe, affordable housing. Staff Photo: Kathryn Crockett
Dougherty Commissioner Gloria Gaines to serve as honorary sponsor of 2027 international conference in Atlanta
“By Alan Mauldin
[email protected]
ALBANY – In 1898 academic and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois traveled to southwest Georgia during his summer break from teaching to investigate the lives of black residents in the “Black Belt” and later covered his sociological studies of the region in two chapters of his book “The Souls of Black Folk.”
The academic and peace activist’s visit and subsequent account was more than an intellectual exercise, however, according to Dougherty County Commissioner Gloria Gaines.
Du Bois’ account inspired South Carolina native Joseph Winthrop Holley to move Albany, where he founded the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute. The institute later became part of the University System of Georgia and became a four-year college in 1943 before its last renaming in 1996 as Albany State University.
Holley was inspired by Du Bois’ writing, said Gaines, who will be an honorary sponsor of The International Conference on W.E.B. Du Bois: Race, Democracy and Global Justice in 2027. The conference is scheduled for April 9-11 in Atlanta.
“I am in admiration (of) his impact on the founding of Albany State University,” she said. “I also appreciate his political philosophy as well. He was clearly identified with Atlanta University and education.”
During her time at Albany State Gaines worked in the office of civil rights attorney C.B, King.
She holds a master’s degree in community development and worked as an assistant general manager for MARTA.
Her travels also have taken her to Africa, where she worked and met Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
For the 2027 conference, Gaines has collaborated with individuals including professor Preston King, C.B. King’s youngest brother..
Last year she traveled to Accra, Ghana, where DuBois died after he was stranded out of the United States for his opposition to nuclear weapons and had his passport renewal denied, for his 157th birthday celebration.
The conference will feature discussions of democracy, equality and human dignity, Gaines said
“Those are issues that were important to him,” she said. “Now is a good time to talk about democracy. Some may see it as under threat. I think this conference will be timely. It’s a timely issue, not just for black folks as well as human dignity and equality within the country.”
