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Forest Park economic development office reports Main Street hire, events, Gillum groundbreaking and housing program acceptance
Summary
City economic development staff promoted a Main Street manager, previewed upcoming events, reported a Gillum-area groundbreaking, and said Forest Park was accepted into a Georgia housing initiative.
Forest Park’s Office of Economic Development briefed the board on staffing changes, community events, a recent groundbreaking at Fort Gillum and a new state housing program acceptance.
The department announced that Charisse Clay was promoted to Main Street manager effective Oct. 13. The presenter, identifying staffing and program updates, said the office is actively recruiting for a staff assistant and hopes to be fully staffed by year’s end.
Upcoming and recent events highlighted included Hottoberfest — scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the fountain — and the second annual Blues on Main event, which the presenter said drew broad sponsor support including a lead sponsorship from the Clayton County Office of Tourism and several corporate and table sponsors. The presenter said final financial reconciliation of Blues on Main is underway and will be provided to the board at a future meeting.
The office also reported the Main Street sign installation is complete and promoted a recent “Staircrows Showdown” event; Public Works won the competition and City Hall staff placed second. Director remarks said the events helped “put Forest Park on the map” and expanded the city’s reach beyond Clayton County.
Economic development staff said a developer-held groundbreaking took place earlier that day for the Canal properties at Gillum. The presenter said the developer purchased 22 acres from BlueStar Studios on the Moreland side and has asked the city to consider a tax incentive; the city anticipates that request will return to the board for action at a future meeting.
Staff said a small delegation — the presenter and four members of the DDA — planned a day trip to Northern Virginia to tour a Digital Realty data center to better understand the cooling and infrastructure systems similar to those being proposed for a data center use at Gillum.
The presenter said Forest Park had been selected for participation in the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) and that the selection will help the city perform a housing inventory and craft a housing strategic plan. The city was also named as the Forest Park representative to the Aerotropolis board and to the newly formed Clayton County Housing Task Force (funded in part by ARC assistance for a countywide housing assessment), staff said.
The presenter closed by thanking sponsors and partners and said packets with the September financial report and supporting bank statements would be emailed to board members after the meeting because the materials were not included in the packet the board received before the meeting.
The board asked staff to improve promotional outreach for Hottoberfest to veterinarians, pet daycares and pet‑service businesses; staff said partners such as Happy Paws & Tails were assisting with promotion and Eventbrite registration.
No formal action was taken on these program updates; they were provided for board information and follow‑up.
