Just

look at all the dirt moving in Fayette County and

you'll quickly realize that commercial real

estate is booming.

Drive

through Peachtree City and observe the progress

of the new Harris Teeter store, where A&P

used to be in the Peachtree Crossings Shopping

Center.

Harris

Teeter has sprinkled upscale metro stores

throughout the Atlanta region and the Peachtree

City store is the company's first foray on the

south side.

While

the grocery wars dominated many of the headlines

early in the year, other retailers also looked to

Fayette for new stores and have started work.

At

Fayette's largest shopping center, the Fayette

Pavilion, work began on phase three of the large

power center.

Phase

three will occupy 50 acres on the Ga. Highway 314

side of the center and feature Belk, Kohl's and

Joanne Fabrics.

Across

the street at Pine Trail Road,work has begun on a

shopping center that includes Barnes and Noble

and Linens `N" Things.

Just

south of the Pavilion, Applebee's restaurant and

a super Eckerd pharmacy are nearing completion.

The

other major project in Fayetteville that's

underway is a Lowe's superstore, next to the

Banks Crossing shopping center.

New

banking options also are figuring into the

commercial equation.. In April, longtime Fayette

County banker Gary McGaha announced that Southern

Community Bank would open in early 2000 at 525

north Jeff Davis Drive. When he made the

announcement, McGaha said the time was right to

open a new bank.

"A

small community bank can give better service. All

decision making powers will be handled by local

people," he said.

Just

a few weeks later, former Fayette County Bank

executive Pat Shepherd announced the Bank of

Georgia would open for business in early 2000 in

Peachtree City.

Shepard,

along with proposed managers Rick Duncan and

Mickey Godwin, has vowed to bring community

banking back to Fayette County.

Peachtree

City also experienced a growth period with

several major announcements. In February, Gilbert

Southern Corporation announced it would locate

its new district headquarters in the city. The

20,000-sq. ft. building near TDK Boulevard and

Dividend Drive is expected to initially employ

20-30 people.

Gilbert

Southern is a subsidiary of Omaha-based Peter

Kiewit Sons Inc., which provides heavy civil and

structural construction services throughout the

Southeast.

new office-warehouse building also was announced

for the golf cart city.

Longtime

Peachtree City home builder Richard Simms broke

ground in April on a 20,000-sq. ft. building on

Fulton Court off Huddleston Drive.

The

building can house one large tenant or be

subdivided into as many as eight spaces, Simms

said.

Many

experts thought the business construction pace

might slow down, but two statistics seem to be

driving the activity at a steady pace.

The

county's unemployment rate is one of the two or

three lowest in the state and hovers around the 2

percent rate.

In

March, a study showed that Fayette County had the

state's second highest percentage of incomes over

$100,000. Only Fulton County had a higher rate

with 11.2 percent of the households having a

six-figure income. Fayette's rate was 9 percent.

The

high income residents have to shop somewhere, and

more commercial businesses are willing to call

the county home.