Gateway Village, the planned mixed-use development located just west of the campus of Clayton State University, received the "Exceptional Merit Award for a Visionary Public-Private Redevelopment Partnership" at the November 21, 2002 Annual Developments of Excellence Awards.

The Fourth Annual awards program -- created to showcase projects that stand out in the region as models for innovative and sustainable development -- took place at the State of the Region Breakfast, hosted by the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Regional Business Coalition.  Frank Smith, president of The University Financing Foundation, accepted the award on behalf of the many collaborating entities that initiated the development of Gateway Village, a master planned development located between the Clayton State campus and Reynolds Nature Preserve in Morrow and Lake City.

In 1995, prompted in part by an increase in enrollment, Clayton State officials began exploring how student housing could be developed adjacent to the campus.  Because the University lies between Morrow and Lake City, Clayton State solicited the cooperation of these municipalities in the housing development. 

Clayton State conceptualized a "community-university planning district," that would stretch beyond student housing to create a community and regional development initiative that sought to change the area into one tied directly to the needs of an economy driven by information technology and the imperatives of continuous, lifelong learning.

During this same time frame, Clayton State officials also solicited the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to relocate the Southeast Regional Archives building from its current location in East Point to a facility to be built adjacent to the University.

Gateway Village is a joint venture among Clayton State, the Economic Development Authority of Clayton County, the cities of Morrow and Lake City, and The University Financing Foundation, a nonprofit foundation established to finance real estate ventures for the benefit of colleges and universities.  Property for Gateway Village is primarily located adjacent to the Clayton State campus on Highway 54, approximately one-and-one-half miles from Interstate 75 exit 233.

Gateway Village will eventually encompass 165 acres of property with the potential to be a $110 million plus development designed to enclose the Clayton State campus on two sides with 500,000 square feet of Class "A" office space, a new Morrow post office, a 200-room high-tech executive conference center/Hilton hotel, student housing and a multi-modal/passenger rail station.

Gateway Village already has its first two tenants coming out of the ground -- NARA's Southeast regional headquarters and the Georgia State Archives.  The two archives facilities, which broke ground on the east side of Jonesboro Road in October 2001 (Georgia Archives) and August 2002 (NARA), represent the first such model in the nation to combine both state and federal facilities, providing "one-stop shopping" for archive researchers.  The joint facility will be a high tech, state-of-the-art facility with online access to these records.

It is expected that most of the corporations who will converge on Gateway Village will target the technology industry.  Clayton State will continue to be an active participant in Gateway Village, lending human resources and expertise courtesy of the University's Information Technology Project -- wherein all Clayton State students and faculty have access to a notebook computer.

"The various contributions of all the partners in the Gateway Village project are the key to the future success of Gateway Village," says Dr. Thomas K. Harden, Clayton State president.  "Indeed, Gateway Village is, itself, a great partnership.

"We are confident that Gateway Village will prove to be an outstanding asset with a long lasting positive impact on Clayton State, the City of Morrow, the City of Lake City, Clayton County, and the Southern Crescent."

Roland Downing, chairman of the Clayton County Economic Development Authority, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Clayton State University Foundation, is delighted by the presentation of Gateway's award.  "This award is well deserved by all the participants of Gateway's development," he says.

     -- article from the December 2002 Clayton State Campus Review