The Gwinnett Place area has become the commercial heart of Gwinnett County since its initial development in the 1980s and amazing growth during the 1990s. Since that time, it has seen many changes with new businesses coming and going, new infrastructure and many demographic shifts. Given these changes, Gwinnett Place CID’s board wanted to know, just how much is area is contributing to Gwinnett County’s economy.
In the summer of 2017 they commissioned an analysis from our firm to better understand the economic impacts of the area. An economic impact analysis measures the economic activity occurring in an area from a wide variety of perspectives:
- What do businesses contribute to the local economy?
- How many people work in the area, in what types of businesses and what do they earn?
- How many visitors come to an area and what do they spend during their visit?
- How much tax revenue is generated for local governments from the economic activity in the area?
- What is the total economic impact of the area in terms of the direct spending by businesses, residents and visitors and what are the indirect economic effects from additional rounds of spending by employees, residents and visitors and the goods and services purchased by local businesses in the Gwinnett economy?
All these elements together equal the total economic impact of the area.
From our research we learned that the Gwinnett Place CID is a major economic engine for Gwinnett County from a wide range of perspectives. The area represents only 1 percent of the land area of Gwinnett County. Yet, it has over 13.3 million square feet of commercial development, the largest concentration in the County. Of that total, 7.8 million is retail space. In terms of office space, 23 percent of the County’s Class A office space is in Gwinnett Place.
All of this commercial development, results in 24,500 people who are employed in the area, which is 7 percent of all jobs in the County, and contrary to the general belief, those jobs are not all in retail, with only 24 percent in that sector. Jobs in finance, insurance, management, professional and technical fields are well represented—in fact, many of the “premium jobs” in the County are located in Gwinnett Place.
Gwinnett Place has long been known as a retail destination, with more than $1.1 billion in retail sales annually, most of which comes from demand from outside the immediate market area. Restaurants are a major component of the retail sector with more than 170 restaurants offering a world-spanning range of cuisines and dining options.
The area’s 20 hotels attract over 542,000 room nights and $59 million in hospitality revenue annually.
The direct economic impact from Gwinnett Place area is $4.5 billion annually. This stimulates an additional $5.0 billion in economic activity in the Georgia economy for a total economic impact — direct and indirect — of $9.5 billion annually — making Gwinnett Place The Economic Engine of the County.
Another important contribution of Gwinnett Place is the taxes it generates to support Gwinnett County and the Gwinnett County School System. Gwinnett Place generates almost $55 million in property, sales and hotel taxes to Gwinnett County and the School System annually. It costs the County and School System approximately $18.5 million to service the needs of residents, businesses and employees in the area. As a result, Gwinnett Place is generating a substantial annual surplus in local governmental revenues of more than $36 million per year. The County uses these revenues to support service delivery and education costs in other parts of Gwinnett County.
Again, considering that Gwinnett Place is only 1 percent of the land area of Gwinnett County, the amount of economic activity that is generated annually from this area is most impressive. And as redevelopment and economic growth occurs over the coming decade, the economic impact of Gwinnett Place will grow substantially from its impressive economic base.
Hopefully this overview has given you a flavor of the many dimensions of the Gwinnett Place economy if you would like to dig deeper please click here to view full economic impact report. If you would like to learn more about our firm, please visit our website at blagroup.com. If you have any questions about this analysis, please contact Jonathan Gelber at jonathan@blagroup.com. If you’re interested in redevelopment opportunities in Gwinnett Place, contact Joe Allen at jallen@gwinnettplacecid.com.
Guest blog post by Ken Bleakly, Jr., AICP, Founder, The Bleakly Advisory Group