A new mixed-use development will add hundreds of apartments to Dacula, a small Gwinnett city with about 6,000 residents.
Dacula City Council unanimously voted on July 1 to rezone about 74 acres on Harbins Road. The action will allow WWP Acquisition, an affiliate of Atlanta-based Watkins Real Estate Group, to build 320 multi-family apartments, 180 units of senior apartments and 63,000 square feet of retail.
Known as Inland Pass, the $124 million, “pedestrian-friendly” development will dedicate about 6.4 acres for an office or industrial building and 17.9 acres for a park. The senior community and multi-family apartments, intended for young professionals and individuals without children, will each have entrance gates.
Inland Pass will be the largest mixed-use project in Dacula to date, said Councilmember Denis Haynes.
The residential portion of the development is expected to be completed in 2024, while the rest of the project will wrap up in 2025, according to a form submitted to Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs.
The retail section of the development will consist of a multi-tenant building, anchored by a grocery store. The development is projected to create 350 jobs and generate $1.8 million in annual local tax revenue, according to the DCA form.
Watkins Real Estate declined a request from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday to share more details about the development.
Drivers will enter Inland Pass from Harbins Road on the southern side of Ga. 316. The other side of Harbins Road to the north of 316 takes drivers through downtown Dacula and to many of its businesses.
Inland Pass will give residents on the side of 316 opposite from most supermarkets somewhere to buy groceries and go out for dinner without crossing the highway, Haynes said.
The development is expected to generate about 10,000 vehicle trips each day, according to the DCA form. Watkins Real Estate will install turn lanes at the development’s entrance and a traffic signal at an intersection with West Drowning Creek Road.
Haynes said he expects an interchange project at Ga. 316 and Harbins Road will help traffic flow. The county’s interchange project is expected to be completed by early 2022.
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