Warner Robins plans $1.6M, six-acre retail and housing development near Commercial Circle

The City of Warner Robins is making progress toward developing a long-awaited city center.

The city council voted to execute a purchase and sale agreement for a six-acre property on Aug. 1.

The property will serve as a mixed-use development and new “live, work, play” hub for locals and visitors. City officials said the $1.6 million purchase is “an opportunity to recreate the city center” and “bring some much-needed redevelopment to the heart of the city.”

The property is located in the Commercial Circle area near Robins Air Force Base, City Hall and Middle Georgia State University’s Warner Robins campus.

According to a press release, the new city center will be home to more than 82,000 square feet of commercial retail space and 150,000 square feet of residential development.

“Cities all over the state of Georgia follow a similar pattern for their downtown and town center districts: commercial retail space, dense housing, public programmed green-space and municipal complex,” Community and Economic Development Director Kate Hogan said in the release. “We are excited to be working toward implementation of the commercial and residential portion of creating a downtown. While the area has its challenges, it is past time the City helps guide the development we want to see.”

The city says its next step is to close on the property in the coming months, then start the process of selecting a developer for the property. City officials hope to schedule groundbreaking for the new town center in 2023.

“There is something that many of us want to see in our city,” Mayor LaRhonda Patrick said at the Aug. 1 city council meeting. “There’s something that we’ve been saying is missing, and the vote today is the first major leap in the direction of bringing the very thing we want to see when it comes to Commercial Circle.”

The city has done planning exercises and sought public input for the development of Commercial Circle since 2009.