ARC to Give Technical Assistance to Snellville DDA

Submitted by City of Snellville

SNELLVILLE – The Downtown Development Authority was given the Atlanta Regional Commission Community Choices Award which will give the city organization the research power of the ARC to investigate and report on best practices in public-private partnerships.

“Author Perter Drucker said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to invent it.’ This is what the Downtown Development Authority of Snellville will achieve through this Atlanta Regional Commission award of technical assistance,” Van Otteren said. “Public-private partnerships are the way projects are getting done today. As the Snellville DDA works toward a development concept for The Towne Center @ Snellville, authority members feel it is critical that they have a good working knowledge of the best practices being used today. That is the goal of this project.”

The DDA’s request is to conduct a survey of public-private partnerships to learn best practices and dos and don’ts. Specifically, the request is for ARC to develop a best practices inventory for public-private partnerships. The DDA will utilize this information as it moves forward with determining the best use of the city-owned and currently vacant Wisteria Drive property, as it encourages the larger implementation of The Towne Center plan and specifically seeks to engage in public-private partnership to move the plan forward.

Earlier this week, the DDA was awarded $15,000 to put on a Pop-up Market on the Wisteria Drive property located across from the Snellville Police Department May 16. The Wisteria Pop-up Marketplace will be a one-day event featuring local entrepreneurs at the site in an effort to draw attention to the location and promote The Towne Center vision.

The ARC staff and intern team will research public-private partnerships as they relate to downtown development and redevelopment.

The project is slated to begin in May, as this program relies in part on graduate summer interns who are currently studying city planning or a related field.