Gwinnett - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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"From an industrial leasing 2007 was the best year I haveever seen," said Chet vice president of leasing at , an company. "Ibn all areas -- small, midsizde and larger facilities -- we saw an unprecedented number of occupanciew in the 80 to 90percenrt range." Tom Flanigan, senior vice president at M.D. said the Gwinnett submarket's successful performance can be attributedc to the same factors that benefite the metro areain "The main drivers have been population growth and the job market," he Flanigan also attributed the recent positivr numbers to the Gwinnett County government, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation and othef officials.
"They have done a great job with the road infrastructure and trying to stay ahead of thegrowthj curve," he said. Flanigan said the county's school systenm provides another economicbooster shot. "Iyt not only accommodates the population growth, but, as far as the job marketg is concerned, it allows people to feel good about livinv near where they The Sugarloaf corridor is an area in the Gwinnetyt submarket that saw a lot of activityin 2007. Sugarloafd and Huntcrest office parks, both managedr by , posted 200,000 square feet of net absorptionj through the third quarterof 2007.
"Sugarloaf is the biggestg area of development in this saidCraig Flanagan, Duke's vice president of whose company owns about 1.2 million squarwe feet of commercial property in the Gwinnetrt submarket. "Primarily, it's been driven by a diversithy of housing in allprice categories," he "The proximity to I-85 has also been a great In 2008, Duke will begibn development of Legacy, a 110-acre office park at Georgia 120 (Duluth and Meadowchurch Road. According to the development encompassesa 110-acre site zoned for seven offic buildings at 172,000 square feet apiece, with about 13 acrese totaling about 90,000 square feet designated for retai l space.
Other areas of activity during 2007includs Huntcrest, where recently announced a deal with the University of Georgia Real Estate Foundation to secure 60,00p0 square feet of space at Koll's 150,000-square-foot, LEED-certified Intellicenter. "Thee single most significant communithy development in this submarket isour 'Partnershipo Gwinnett' initiative," said Jim Maran, president and CEO of the . "Wed are totally focused on encouraging and attractingeconomic development." Mara n said the chamber's large staff (up to a doze n full-time employees) works closely with counth officials and other government entities to offetr incentives aimed at attracting commercial investment.
"When Hewlett Packard was considering where to move their data we used tax abatements to help accommodate them," he said. Thosde abatements, part of a county economic development ordinance, were reportedlt worth up to $800,000 over the next decade. "We have threse Community ImprovementDistricts (Gwinnett Place, Gwinnetf Village and Evermore), and we all work Maran said. "I think it's the most unified syste m in the entireUnited States." President, The 1) What attributees make the Gwinnett area an ideal CRE growth market? Gwinnettg has excellent infrastructure and more availablwe development land than any other metrk county.
In the past few years threee CIDs have been created and the countuy is beginning to embrace the growth opportunitiexs offeredby redevelopment. Gwinnety also has a top-notch school system that continues to draw educateed families with highhousehold incomes. Our close-in locatiohn provides convenient access to downtownm and allof Atlanta's major submarkets.