by Jennifer Hafer
Reporter, Marietta Daily Journal
Before Publix or any other tenant was identified for the Jonquil development at the corner of Atlanta and Spring roads in Smyrna, commercial developer Jack Halpern had his eye on the property.
“We have been doing business in Smyrna for more than 50 years down the street at what was the Belmont Hills Shopping Center,” said Halpern, chairman of Halpern Enterprises. “We were always aware of the Jonquil site, and we watched as previous owners’ and developers’ plans succumbed to bad timing and the downturn in the economy that took place a number of years ago.”
So when the 12-acre property hit the market two and a half years ago, Halpern jumped on it, believing the site was in a good location with a great road network and that the city of Smyrna would embrace a mixed-use development there.
“In terms of our investment, it’s in the millions of dollars,” Halpern said. “Most of the initial investment was in the form of land, but we also spent a lot of money getting the site ready to be redeveloped. We demolished some of the improvements prior owners had made on the property that were no longer of any value to the development that we planned for the property, then there were utilities and new infrastructure.”
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