FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – After 14 years, the Board of Commissioners pulled the plug on the ill-fated Taubman project Tuesday and authorized County Attorney Ken Jarrard to demand the return of $2.5 million in incentives the county paid to the developer.

County Attorney Ken Jarrard

“In total we have paid to Taubman $2,455,980,” Jarrard told commissioners during the Thursday work session.  The incentives included approximately $1.3 million for right-of-way acquisition.

Once billed as a $1 billion mixed-use development that would attract high-end retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale and generate nearly 8,000 new jobs and tens of millions in annual tax revenue for Forsyth County.

“They built out the high-density residential apartments and townhomes, but they didn’t build the first commercial building,” Commissioner Dennis Brown said.

Commissioner Dennis Brown

The development, which would have been located on Ronald Reagan Parkway near Union Hill, was planned to include 900,000 square feet of office space, 875 residential units and 500 hotel rooms with a scheduled opening date of Dec. 1 2020.

But as Jarrard pointed out Thursday, “There is no mall that is going to have a grand opening by Dec. 1.”

The Board’s action required two votes. The first stated: “Forsyth County is no longer interested in working on the development agreement.” The second authorized Jarrard to pursue the refund after Dec. 1.

Three years earlier, in 2003, the Rouse Company attempted to build a similar development, but failed to attract the high-end retailers need to support such an ambitious project.

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