OurTown39042web

Grants
Ferry
–Parkway–
Helping build Brandon’s future!
Susan Marquez
The third and final phase of the much-anticipated
Grants Ferry Parkway will soon be under construction.
Phase C will complete the three-mile parkway,
which will be an economic boon for the city of
Brandon, opening 1200 acres for development. When
finished, the Grants Ferry Parkway will connect
Highway 80 to Highway 471.
The groundbreaking for the Parkway was in June
2016, and the first two phases, Phase A and Phase B,
are complete. “Phase A opened up 400 acres between
Highway 80 and the railroad for commercial
development,” says Tom Cook with Grants Ferry
Parkway, LLC, the developer of the project. “That area
is all south of the railroad. Having it completed has
allowed us to begin selling commercial lots between
Highway 80 and I-20.”
Phase B of the Parkway runs from Trickhambridge
Road north of the railroad, to Cornerstone, where ten
houses have been built with plans for 15 to 20 more.
Plans for Phase B are primarily commercial. “There
will be a big box retailer and a grocery store,” says
Cook. “We have sold one lot to a pharmacy, and we
have a contingency to sell a lot to a convenience store
that will have twelve gas pumps and restaurants inside.
We are also talking to banks and eventually plan for an
open-air mall. There will be several one- to three-acre
lots for stand-alone retail businesses.”
Phase C is expected to be completed by the end of
2021 and will run all the way to Highway 471. “There
could easily be 2500 home sites, and Brandon really
needs those,” Cook says.
Mayor Butch Lee is thrilled about the Grants Ferry
Parkway and what it means to Brandon’s future. “If you
look at a map of Brandon and see the area that is taken
up with Eastgate and Crossgates, that’s about the same
amount of land we’re looking at developing along the
Parkway. Brandon will add a lot of new businesses,
especially around Exit 59 off I-20.”
Brandon currently has an eight percent growth rate,
which is high for a city in Mississippi. “Brandon, in
Rankin County, is one of the three fastest-growing
areas of the state. The other two are DeSoto County in
north Mississippi, and Harrison County on the Coast.
What makes Brandon different is we’ve got great
schools, great churches and great people. We have
more and more good people moving to Brandon all
the time. Our planned green spaces, parks and
amphitheater attract people to the area. People
nowadays will choose where they want to live based
on the quality of life. They’d rather live in a place they
love and travel to work, unlike previous generations of
folks who wanted to live near their work. This parkway
will make Brandon even more attractive to families
who are looking for a certain lifestyle,” Lee concluded.
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