Mayor Talks Development, Budget

Residents attending a town hall meeting Thursday night heard an overview of what's going on in .

It's been a good year for the city in terms of development and revenues, Mayor Mark Mathews said.

"We've got ourselves in a pretty good position, I think," he said.

Several commercial developments either have been completed or are in progress, including the new at ; West 22 at Cherokee Street and McCollum Parkway; Metro Bank at Cobb Parkway and Kennesaw Due West Road; Brothers Pizza on Main Street; a new CVS pharmacy at Cobb Parkway and Jiles Road; and U Club on Frey Road, which Mathews said was 100 percent pre-leased before construction was completed.

"They're wait-listed right now," the mayor said.

Property at the intersection of Barrett Parkway and Old U.S. Highway 41 was just closed on for a $9 million fitness facility, and Mathews said a project is slated for property behind City Hall, though he hasn't yet divulged any details.

Commercial development isn't the only area seeing a boon. Mathews said that residential developments that had stalled during the recession are starting back up and are reporting sales.

"It's very encouraging to see some of this stuff taking off," he said.

Mathews also reviewed highlights of the , which doesn't call for layoffs or furloughs and includes a 2 percent increase for employees.

"We've not been in the position to give any raises in the past four years, so it's nice to have some positive cash flow to get our employees where they need to be for all the work they do," Mathews said.