New growth for Albany

September 16, 2011

The Shoppes at Walden Place is one of the hottest spots in metro Albany at the moment, at least in terms of new restaurant activity.

Realtor Mary Carter with Murray Webb & Associates says representatives from two separate restaurant companies are looking at the site and are considering building free standing facilities.

No leases have been signed, but Carter says both companies have genuine interest in the location at Ledo Road and Nottingham Way.

This comes on the heels of Carter brokering a deal with Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar to take up four spaces (about 5,000 square feet) in the strip center already constructed at Walden Place.

That restaurant may be open by the end of the year.

PEANUT HEADQUARTERS: Peanuts are big business in Georgia. We're the leading producer, a fact that many non-Georgians may not realize.

The Georgia Peanut Commission is doing something to bring Georgia peanuts into the spotlight.

The Commission is building a new headquarters building adjacent to Interstate Highway 75 in Tifton -- a site that is visible to 100,000 vehicles each day.

Now located in a nondescript brick building off the main track in downtown Tifton, the commission headquarters will be located along I-75 on property which years ago housed the Georgia State Patrol Post

Directly across from the Georgia Agrirama, the new 6,400-square-foot building will house the peanut Commission offices, an area to sell peanut products to those tourists passing by, a museum about growing peanuts and a test kitchen to develop new peanut recipes.

Peanut Commission officials hope to have the new structure open in mid 2012. Costing an estimated $1 million, they hope the costs will be covered by the sale of the current headquarters building, and other fund-raising activities.

TOP PUBLIC COMPANIES: Home Depot is No. 1 by a sizeable margin among Georgia's top 100 public companies.

Georgia Trend magazine listed the Top 100 in its most recent edition. United Parcel Service was No. 2 on the list of Georgia-based companies.

Coca-Cola Co. was No. 3 followed by Delta Air Lines, AFLAC Inc., Southern Co., Genuine Parts Co., SunTrust Banks, AGCO Corp. and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

Just three companies based in Southwest Georgia made the list. Flowers Foods Inc. based in Thomasville was listed at No. 21.

Two banking companies based in the area also were in the Top 100. Ameris Bancorp, based in Moultrie, was listed at No. 76. Fitzgerald-based Colony Bankcorp Inc. is No. 94.

NEW CELL SITES: AT&T has announced the activation of two new cell sites in Albany. One tower is located near Leary Road and the second is near Highway 91 and the Lake Worth area.

Danny Carter can be contacted at (229) 888-9346 or emailed at danny.carteralbanyherald.com.

yea1981 1 year, 8 months ago

I hope Olive Garden is looking at the site on Nottingham. Let's bring them to Albany.

KaosinAlbany 1 year, 8 months ago

Yes, it would be very nice to finally have an Olive Garden. It would do really well here.

firefly 1 year, 7 months ago

Why?! Somebody will just get shot in the parking lot!

deedub63 1 year, 7 months ago

Olive Garden is NOT a good idea!! First, Olive Garden pushes wine, a lot of wine. The people in Albany are not wine drinkers, and the ones that are will not frequent a place where they have to rub elbows with the common folk. They will continue to go where they always have & that is ANY Bo Henry Stuart Campbell establishment, or Doublegate. I promise they will NOT be dining in an Olive Garden. Second, Olive Garden offers unlimited soup, salad, & breadsticks. Olive Garden will have to make an exception to the rule if they open up here because Sha-na-na & all 8 of her kids or Billy Bob No-teeth & all his 8 kids WILL abuse the hell out of that. Salad Breadsticks & water with extra lemon so they can make lemonade with the free packets of sugar on the table. & That will equal to no tip for the server who has to run their butt off making sure their salad, breadsticks, & 'water' is full. OH YEAH every October, Olive Garden offers a never ending pasta bowl for like $6.95 or $8.95 (not sure) but its not very expensive. & That also will be abused by Sha-na-na & Billy Bob. So NO its not a good idea!

poogirls 1 year, 7 months ago

Would be nice to have one here! Let's face the fact - the people of Albany are not couth enough for an Olive Garden, and if those people are astute they won't come to Albany. Any new venture of any kind is trashed within six months! I agree with DeeDub!!

TrixibelleBento 1 year, 7 months ago

I have heard that Darden Restaurants ascertains what the educational makeup of a community is during their fact-finding process. Higher educated people make more money, which then equals more disposable income. More disposable income equals eating out more often. If they're looking at our poverty level and lack of educated workforce, that might be one of the factors that keeps them away. Darden has kept Red Lobster here for years, but depending on what their numbers are, that may be another reason why we don't see them here.

LOL at the posts above. Sha-na-na sang a song a long time ago called :"Get A Job."

EBM 1 year, 7 months ago

The reason for mentioned is the same reason that Best Buy or other retail giants stray away from Albany. The median income in this area is extremely low, as well as the number of educated individuals whether they be black or white (Since race always seems to be a factor in Albany) These businesses see Albany as a liability rather then a gold mine! And to me that's sad because here it is, a community with not 1, but 3 institutions of higher learning located in this city, but yet our citizens just aren't educated enough to generate plausible interest in companies who would probably succeed in this area. As a I mentioned earlier, Best Buy would thrive in Albany, seeing as though the closet one to Albany is either Columbus, Macon, or Tallahassee, but it all goes back to margin of income, which is a direct reflection of education.

6120steph 1 year, 6 months ago

Albany's problem is NOT education, just as it's not the problem nationally. It is LACK OF DISCIPLINE (and yes I mean a spanking when appropriate!), FAMILY STABILITY (too many one parent families), AND UPBRINGING (lack of manners here). My parents had no college education, but we had a stable family, with plenty of spankings, and were taught manners and respect. We respected other people, their property, and were never told that we DESERVED anything without working for it. I think another factor in businesses coming to Albany is lack of a decent workforce. 25% of Albany men live in poverty and 28% of Albany women. Over 40% of Albany is on some sort of welfare assistance. We live in a city that isn't productive. Businesses do not want to open in a city like ours. We would have to see a drastic change in Albany in order to see this change. It's a shame. It could have been such a great town- Radium Springs, the Flint River, Chehaw Park, the River Front, Civic Center, etc. all ruined by poor upbringing.....

AlbanyIsTooDarkDuringTheDay 1 year, 4 months ago

Albany's problem is keeping young, educated minds in town. There are plenty of bright minds amongst the private and public schools, but you can't bring them back "home" once they complete their college endeavors.

MomOfArmyMike 1 year, 7 months ago

Who cares about Olive Garden, some of you make it sound like the Ritz! It's REALLY nothing special.

justme 1 year, 7 months ago

"NEW GROWTH IN ALBANY", just think, what if we had a freeway system in and out of Albany. I guess folks will be happy with a new restaurant and the new restaurant employees will have to be happy working for tips from tight fisted Albany customers.

Eastside904 1 year, 6 months ago

that would be a good consideration...instead of just widening 133 to 4 lanes ..they should reincarnate Interstate 175 and make it a full freeway to connect South Georgia 2 largest cities. That would bring tremendous growth to the area.

chinaberry25 1 year, 7 months ago

I would like to see an Atlanta Bread Company. They have great soups and sandwiches. Love the one in Tallahassee. I also like Boston Market. We do not have many places like these open on weekends. Just hamburger joints. Someone stated earlier that Olive Garden will not come here because Johnny O's is their cousin and they will not compete with each other. Since Food Stamps can be used this will open more market to the welfare masses here. If this offends you then you can always go get a job.

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