May 23, 2013
News
Building Change in Downtown Macon
Amber Jones
Downtown Macon is becoming more residential and by this summer, there will be at least 20 new residents moving into the Dannenburg Lofts.
WGXA speaks with the man in charge of getting that show on the road and he says they are right on schedule. "We started last July and as to date we are about thirty days from having the first twenty units ready the first of April,” says Gene Dunwody, the architect in charge of the project.
Projects of this size are usually estimated to take eighteen months. This project is expected to be done in twelve.
Kris Hattaway is the director of place for Newtown Macon and says project like the Dannenburg will bring residents to the area, also bringing businesses. "We are so excited about everything that is happening in downtown," she says.
"It's (Dannenburg Lofts) going to have a huge impact on the downtown area. It's not just the Dannenburg there are a lot of other projects going on right now."
One of those projects is Dough Boy Pizza. It's less than one block away from the Dannenburg location. Owner Roger Ruiz says opening new businesses gives the area a facelift. "There's more curb appeal, instead of just a dead space," he adds.
It’s a move Ruiz says can only get better as the new living facility is completed. "Any kind of thing that draws the people downtown and draws the people down town and their money and our ability to give them what they want," he says.
As downtown recovers as a place that everyone can live, work, and play. "The great thing about this project is because each unit is different there’s all type of different size units. Some of them are even as low as 575 dollars a month,” adds Dunwody.
Newtown Macon is managing the five million dollar bond fund that will continue to fund residential projects for the downtown area. "We are so excited about the momentum down town we know that we are just going to continue to grow and increase the residents down town," says Hattaway.
