The Sandy Springs City Council delayed an expected vote to choose a contractor to design plans for four shopping centers in the North End at its Aug. 20 meeting.
At the beginning of the council meeting, Mayor Rusty Paul announced that the vote had been removed from the original agenda due to part of the council not feeling they could yet make an informed decision.
“[The agenda item] has been removed because some members of council felt they did not have enough information yet to vote,” Paul said.
Paul said that there will now be a non-voting work session to further hear findings from a staff evaluation committee at the Sept. 3 meeting and the official vote will be moved to the Sept. 17 meeting. The committee, selected by the former City Manager John McDonough, is recommending the contract be awarded to Cunningham Quill Architects for $375,088.
The city issued a proposal request for master design plans for four of the 12 plans for the North End, including former Loehmann’s Plaza (8610 Roswell Road), the Northridge Shopping Center (8331-8371 Roswell Road), the North River Shopping Center (8765-8897 Roswell Road) and the Big Lots Center (7300 Roswell Road).
The idea of redeveloping the shopping centers follows a lengthy process and report from city-formed task force.
Two groups of residents have voiced their opinions on the North End redevelopment priorities, one in support and one in opposition.