Published Saturday, June 20, 2009

Film crews may get new place to stay

The Times-Herald

A "boutique hotel" may be part of the residential development on the old McKnight gin property, says developer and RiverWood Studios President Scott Tigchelaar.

It makes sense, since film crews are currently forced to stay in Peachtree City when working on projects at RiverWood, he said.

"A hotel is interested in one of our proposed factory loft sites," he said. Construction on part of the development is slated for next month.

"We're willing to explore all the options, and having a nice little hotel in Senoia is definitely an option," he said.

Even when the film crews aren't around, he said, "Senoia can hold its own as a destination town, I think," he said. "I think there are a lot of corporations and travelers looking for more than just an average hotel."

He said Senoia has been a "live backlot" for 22 different film and TV projects, and much more is on the way due to new tax incentives passed by the Georgia legislature last year.

He said the focus of the first phase of new development in Senoia was to "establish the heart of the town" with new buildings and renovations at the town center, on Main Street.

"And I think we have some real commercial momentum with the PAPP Clinic, Piedmont physicians, and Allstate and the restaurants in there," he said.

"So now we're going to start complementing that with residential infill."

He said Senoia is "kind of a little bit odd" in that it's a "modern-day Mayberry" that's "25 miles and 100 years from Atlanta."

It's a unique town in that it's been able to maintain "a little disconnect" from the current economic woes affecting the rest of the state and the U.S., he said.

"That's not to say that we don't have our challenges. But we are signing leases and filling up spaces and people are buying homes here," he said. "Of course, as with everyone else, things could always be better. But there's a strong feeling that we are moving forward."

He said the attraction of Senoia is plain to see.

"I think that, personally, people are tired of the big-box and the impersonal McMansions," he said. "America has lost some of its sense of community. But Senoia has not.

"Senoia is not for everybody, but for those who are a little nostalgic, for those who are looking for that lost sense of community, they find Senoia and they don't just like it, they love it!

"There's a passion about this town, and we're passionate about Senoia, too," Tigchelaar said. "As a development, it is standing on its own. And as a destination for film companies? Well, that's just icing on the cake."