Germantown Village, Gluckstadt’s largest development to date, is underway and it positions the new Madison County city to compete with Madison and Ridgeland for the spending dollars of consumers in the area.
Germantown Village, when completed, will be a 35-acre mixed use development. Bellamare Development, which is in charge of the project, has already begun Phase 1. It is touting the project as an economic driver because of its close proximity to Nissan Manufacturing and Amazon’s distribution center off Interstate-55 in north Madison County.
The entire project will encompass approximately 30 acres with Phase 1 consisting of retail, restaurants and entertainment. A planned Phase 2 is expected to begin in 2024.
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“This project is designed to create and maintain a multi-use development that will serve as Gluckstadt’s city center and community hub,” said Scott Sledge of Bellamare Development. “We are extremely excited to bring this development to light.”
Sledge has also announced that two hotels will join the development.
Springhill Suites will begin construction of a 90-room hotel that is expected to be completed sometime in 2024, while Home 2 Suites will build a 91-room hotel that should be finished in 2025.
The project site sits along Calhoun Station Parkway on the north side of Gluckstadt Road between I-55 and Calhoun Station Parkway.
A convenience store and gas station are already under construction as part of the development.
Three retail centers are also under construction and Sledge expects all of those to be completed this summer.
A Tesla supercharging station will be built on the development.
The second phase will include the mix-use portion of the development, which will be considered the unofficial city center that will be anchored by an entertainment venue, shops and restaurants. A movie theater could be part of that but Sledge said that has not been confirmed at this point.
“We expect to start construction of that portion sometime in 2024,” Sledge said. “It’s an exciting project and it is a project I believe will have something for everyone in the family and we believe it serves as a location for people to travel to in addition to being something just for the local people.”
The Gluckstadt community has grown rapidly over the past 10 years resulting in the formerly unincorporated area becoming an official city.
“Just those actions have led to more of a demand for businesses and developments like this,” Sledge said. “And while we have been working on this for quite a while, now really is the best time for this and the city.”
As part of the project, there will be a river walk area that Sledge and his group will put together.
“It’s really a natural floodway that runs through a portion of the property,” he said. “We are folding that into part of the development. It will bring a nice European-type feel to the development.”
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Ferriss and Company of Jackson has helped Bellamare Development along the way with ideas and vision for the future that will address many of the needs of the project.
“They have really helped us envision for the residents of Gluckstadt would like to have and be a part of closer to home,” Sledge said. “So, as a part of that, Ferriss and Company have helped point us in the right direction.”
