AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – More businesses want to make downtown Augusta home. And new data from a realty company shows the people of the CSRA are already helping to make that possible.

This market report details what is already happening up Broad Street and all around downtown. Growth. Meybohm Commercial anonymously gets information from your cell phone and your credit card using the company Placer.ai to find that out.

“We found for the analysis that we performed for this retailer that the 11 to 1300 block is a better fit for them than the 2900 block of Washington Road,” said Jonathan Aceves, Meybohm Commercial Sales and Leasing Advisor.

Move over west Augusta, downtown is the place to be. That’s what the latest Downtown Market Report reveals about the traffic along Broad Street and beyond.

Meybohm put it together in order to attract restaurants, retail and housing to the city’s space by the river.

Aceves told NewsChannel 6, “I think that over the next year, you’re going to see more restaurants driven by the demand, driven by the additional apartment units, driven by the additional office space here that’s coming downtown.”

And once those businesses arrive the people will already be there. Meybohm found out compared to the COVID-19 year, the number of visits increased by more than 60 percent this year in the 12th Street Downtown trade area.

And places such as Soultry Sounds, a nightclub and bar on Ellis Street, opened up for business. While more and more downtown properties sold, others are for sale.

“We’re also seeing a big uptick in office space. We’ve got the Cyber Center that announced that they’re going to build another building here. That will be more jobs down here. Those people have to eat lunch somewhere and they’ve got to buy things on Broad Street. So, I think in the next year, you’re going to see a transformation,” he said.

One of the largest buildings downtown will also get a new life, the Lamar Building. Pace Burt, a developer from Albany, Georgia, purchased the landmark spot for more than $2.1 million last month and will create around 70 apartments.

“We’d like to possibly have an area in the Lamar Building for people to be able to show their arts, sell their arts, things like that,” Burt added.

The report is quarterly report, so we will keep track of downtown growth in the future.

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