Premier Outlets to Build 400 KSF Fashion Outlet Mall in Augusta, Ga.

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Premier Outlets, a division of Atlanta-based Ben Carter Enterprises, is planning a $200 million, 400,000 square-foot fashion outlet mall in Augusta, Ga.

The fashion outlet mall is expected to have space for at least 30 retailers and is being built off I-20 at Riverwatch Parkway near Costco, Cabela’s and the Georgia IMAX Theater.

“We think the location with the exposure from I-20 at Riverwatch Parkway will provide great access from a regional trade area of 50 miles. Lake Oconee to the west and Columbia to the east, plus the Augusta trade area includes approximately 1.5 million residents,” Carter said in a news release.

Premier Outlets of Georgia @ Augusta is expected to break ground in November and open by the spring of 2016 in time for The Masters golf tournament in early April.

The outlet mall is similar to the 560,000-square-foot Outlet Mall of Georgia @ Savannah that Ben Carter Enterprises is building outside Savannah. It is slated to open this spring.

Carter told several news outlets Wednesday outside the Augusta site that he hopes to get tenants such as Banana Republic, Gap, Nike, Polo, J. Crew and Brooks Brothers. Although the firm doesn’t have commitments yet, he said in the news release that there has been “very good initial interest from our key retailers.”

“A fashion outlet mall brings retailers to a market that look at a large trade area and attracts retailers that might not be in the local mall,” added Quinto Anderson, CEO of Ben Carter Enterprises.

The project is expected to create about 1,500 jobs and add approximately $200 million in sales tax revenue a year.

“The addition of the Premier Outlets of Georgia @ Augusta to our already strong retail sector will undoubtedly build on our city’s growing reputation as a regional shopping destination while helping to continue the positive growth of our local economy,” Mayor Deke Copenhaver said in a prepared statement.

Ben Carter Enterprises is a commercial real estate firm specializing in outlet and conventional retail and mixed-use developments in the Southeast. In addition to the Outlet Mall of Georgia @ Savannah, the firm has also developed St. John’s Town Center in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Mall of Georgia among other projects.