Big developments coming to Kingsland

Gordon Jackson, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·2 min read

Nov. 1—A planned development called Camden Woods could become a destination for shoppers similar to a smaller version St. Johns Town Center in Florida, if everything goes as planned.

Kingsland City Manager Lee Spell said the development will include 800 residential units and more than one million square feet of commercial property with big box stores, restaurants and smaller businesses.

Kingsland City Council members are considering creating a tax allocation district to help the developer, Sawyer & Associates, move forward with the project.

Spell said he expects the tax allocation district to be approved by the end of this year. The site is located on both sides of Georgia 40 at Camden Woods Parkway. That two-lane road will be extended to Laurel Island Parkway and eventually be widened to four lanes, Spell said.

James Coughlin, executive director of the Camden County Joint Development Authority, said the developer understands the Camden County market very well. The tax allocation district designation will pay for the roads, water, sewer, railroad crossing and other infrastructure needed for the development.

"He calls it a town center," he said. "They are so well positioned."

The city has been experiencing explosive growth in recent years, with new apartment complexes, residential communities and new businesses opening.

"I think it's the push for the north and the south. It's filling up," Spell said of why the city is seeing so my growth.

Other plans in Kingsland include finishing the last phase of the Boone Street extension, a busy service road that runs parallel to Georgia 40 with many businesses.

A proposed warehouse is also coming at the northwest corner of Harriet's Bluff Road and Interstate 95 at Exit 7. Spell said it will required a tract larger than the industrial park at the same exit and will create hundreds of jobs.

Coughlin said the developer has already purchased the 300-acre site and plans two million square feet of storage space in three buildings.

He said the proximity to Interstate 95 and ports in Brunswick, Savannah and Jacksonville, Fla., makes the site desirable.

"We have known our position geographically would be attractive," he said.