Development

of the northwest corner of Walt Banks Road and Ga.

Highway 54 has been consolidated, and both the city and

the developer think it's a good move.

Not long

after getting approval for a 20-acre residential

development on the edge of the site, Bob Adams has

secured control of the entire 73 acres that was once the

property of five separate landowners.

"It

became apparent that the entire 73 acres would have to be

under one owner to work," Adams said of his decision

to pursue the entire tract. "Having five landowners

can't work when all are not getting the same thing."

He got the

land under contract about three weeks ago and is now

looking closely at the master plan drawn up this summer

of the city.

The initial

residential development, Lexington Park, has already

received conceptual site plan approval from the city and

is now in the engineering stage. It is expected to

contain 62 residential lots and a small lot for office

space.

Development

at Lexington Park should begin in November, Adams said,

with home building set to start up in May.

The plan

for the entire 73 acres, as drawn up by the Hilton Head

firm, contains a mix of office and retail uses in some

buildings, with one on the floor above the other. Adams

is looking around the metro Atlanta area to see where

this mix has been done already, to find out the pros and

cons of such a development.

The

commercial sector is being called Lexington Circle, in

reference to the circle drive that would run through the

middle of it. A portion of the Lexington Park site plan,

presented to the city before Adams secured the entire

tract, left room for a connection to the rest of the

tract in case the master plan were adopted.

One of

Adams' biggest concerns is making sure that the master

plan works financially, especially since the land is such

a huge investment in and of itself.

If all goes

according to plan, development of Lexington Circle would

begin in May, with construction set for late summer.

Mayor Bob

Lenox said recently that, after months of task force

meetings and such, there really is no official action for

the city to take at this point. "The ball is in Bob

Adams' court," he said.

Lenox added

that Peachtree City is pleased to be working with a

developer who is so familiar to city officials. Adams

agrees that this is an advantageous situation for all

involved.

"The

city has done a good job of getting everybody

together," said Adams. "They have a track

record with me. They'd rather deal with one entity that

can communicate what they want."