Plans for the community, intended to resemble Peachtree City or Celebration, FL, include commercial and office developments in a town center within Canton as well as townhomes and single-family homes stretching out to the western corner of the property. The density of the community will be less than two units per acre with 30% open space.

PEC Development owns 1,650 acres of the land and Shoal Creek Partners owns 681 acres. The build-out for the project will take between 10 to 15 years after final zoning approval has been received. PEC Development Group CEO Paul Corley tells GlobeSt.com that approvals are being sought for the project, with construction of the residential component estimated to begin in early 2008.

The project will contain approximately 4,000 residential units, including condominiums, townhomes, single-family homes and active adult communities. It will also contain 449,100 sf of retail space and 149,700 sf of office space. Prices for the housing will range from the mid-$100,000s to high $800,000s. "We're offering a broad range of housing at a broad range of price points," Corley says.Infrastructure improvements include a seven-mile parkway running through the property, which will connect GA 5 to GA 108. The developers and Canton city officials are pursuing funding sources for the parkway, which will provide access to the community and help relieve existing congestion.

Also included in the master plan is a new regional water and sewer treatment plant that will serve the entire development and surrounding area. PEC Development is also working with the Cherokee County School Board to identify and plan sites within the area for four new neighborhood schools. PEC Development will donate land for a new elementary school and the Cherokee Water Authority is currently negotiating with the school board for an elementary, middle and high school campus.

PEC Development also plans on enhancing the existing natural buffer along the Etowah River. The company is working with the Army Corp of Engineers and Georgia Department of Natural Resources to possibly construct a trail head to the Etowah River trail on the south end of the development. The trail head would serve as an amenity for the development, but also be accessible to the general public. It would connect the city's greenway from State Road 5 at Bolding Mill Park to Knox Bridge Park at State Road 20.