Business & Tech

New Life For Jonquil Village

Owners of the long-stalled Smyrna development property sign a letter of intent for sale Wednesday with a developer very familiar with the area.

There’s hope once again in Smyrna for the stalled eyesore of a development project known as Jonquil Village.

Ted Sandler, an attorney for the law firm Hartman, Simons, Spielman & Wood who represents the owners of the property at the corner of Spring and Atlanta Roads, told Patch that a letter of intent for sale was signed between owners Todd and Cheri Maxwell and Branch Properties, LLC on Wednesday morning.

By late this week or early next, contracts could be signed beginning a 45-day inspection period and then a 50-day period to close. The proposal from Branch Properties is for a multi-use development.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

No financial terms have been released on the deal for the 10.3 acres that for almost three years has sat dormant, consisting of overgrown weeds, concrete and stagnant water. A grocery store, possibly the long-discussed Publix, is part of the plans.

“The proposal is for retail and residential,’’ said Sandler, who has been assisting the Maxwells entertain several offers in recent weeks. “Branch came to the table late in comparison to the others, but their purchase price was greater than the other bids.’’

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Atlanta-based Branch Properties is familiar with the Jonquil site and dealing with the City of Smyrna. It owns and developed the Highlands of West Village near Atlanta Road and I-285. The mixed-use development consists of approximately 63,000 square feet of retail space, four outparcels, and 292 rental condominiums and townhomes ranging in size from 680 to 2,500 square feet.

Founded in 1973, Branch Properties began Phase II at the Highlands of West Village this week with the intent on building 188 additional housing units.

“We’re in the market,’’ Branch Properties President Nicholas Telesca told Patch on Wednesday. ”We know the market, we like the market and we know how important (Jonquil) is to the market. We know it’s an important piece of property to the city.’’

Telesca was hesitant to discuss much about Jonquil, saying, “We’ll get with the City and work through a plan with them.’’

The former retail center Jonquil Plaza was envisioned five years ago to become Jonquil Village, a $181 million mixed-use project that was to include 20,000 square feet of office space, 160,000 square feet of retail space, 300 luxury condominiums and an underground parking deck.

November 2008 was its target date for completion.

But not a whole lot has gone right in the years since. Tampa, Fla.-based developer A.G. Armstrong was to complete the project, which won City approval for a $26.2 million tax allocation district subsidy. But when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in early 2008 that it was unconstitutional for local governments to utilize school revenues for TADs, the funding became void and Armstrong was later bought out by Lakeland, Fla.-based Twelve Points Georgia LLC.

Todd Maxwell, the CEO of Century Retail in Lakeland, and Stephen Daniel, who owned the old Jonquil Plaza, formed the partnership of Twelve Points. Jonquil Village was demolished and reportedly at least $17 million was sunk into the development before the economy bottomed out.

There it sat for a few years before late last year Maxwell bought the property out of foreclosure in order to sell it and protect his substantial investment.

In March, The Sembler Company signed a contract to buy and develop the land, but that deal soon fell through. Since then the Maxwells, going under the name T&C Land, LLC, have put the property back on the market. Now it looks like they have a very interested buyer, and if all goes well, construction could resume at Jonquil sometime in early 2012.

“I do know that Branch has done a lot of homework on this,’’ Sandler said. “They’ve done a lot of due diligence in coming up with the purchase price. They’re familiar with the property and the city process.’’


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Smyrna-Vinings