New Leesburg development offers young professionals a place to come home

LEESBURG — Milan Patel talks about meeting big-city developers, the people who build things all over the world, and he has this little thing he does to explain his approach.

“It’s like, ‘Knock, knock. … Who’s there? … Albany. … Albany, New York? … No, Albany, Georgia,'” Patel says. He smiles, let’s his words sink in.

“That always gets them talking.” 

It’s that bold approach, a willingness to put his community in the spotlight for all to see, that has made Patel one of the most successful developers in southwest Georgia. He had a dream, chased it, had great success, then lost it all. 

But there would be an amazing second act for Patel. He went to the University of Georgia, met like-minded partner Umong Patel, and started over from scratch, this time, though, with a more well-defined plan. A short while later, with successful southwest Georgia projects like a renovated Holiday Inn, Nuke’s, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, property at the Albany Mall, liquor stores in Albany and Dawson and scads of other developments he had his hand in, Patel is respected as one of — if not the — most successful developers working in the region today.

Vision is one of the buzzwords used in the economic development world these days, but Patel’s approach is about more than vision. Sure, his projects are visionary, but with elements of his own heart, soul and personality mixed in. Many developers talk a good game about home and community when they’re promoting a development that, bottom line, is going to bring them money, their primary goal being lots of money.

And, sure, Patel’s made his money. He’s turned proverbial chicken … stuff … into chicken salad, and he’s enjoyed a great deal of success in doing so. But in each new project, each new development, there’s a part of Patel in the bricks and mortar and steel and concrete that ties him to the community he’s grown to love.

Take the 125-unit Wooten Station development he, Umong Patel and Matthew Davis — another of the successful young developers who’s making his mark in the region — are preparing to build on U.S. Highway 19 coming into Leesburg proper from Albany. Unlike other area housing projects that are geared toward retirement or lower-income communities, the Wooten Station development will target young professionals who have a tough time finding starter residences where they can meet and interact with a like-minded demographic.

“This region, southwest Georgia, needs nurses, young doctors, teachers, law enforcement officers, farmers, engineers that make toilet paper and beer,” Patel said. “We have a lot of those professionals here, but it’s sometimes tough for them to find a place where they’re going to have neighbors who are like they are. We want those brilliant young students who finish school here to want to come back to the Albany/Leesburg area.

“This development won’t be ‘exclusive’ per se, but it will be geared toward this group. There will be amenities that appeal to young professionals: a dog park, a courtyard, a resort-style swimming pool, greenspace, mixed-use buildings that they can reserve. And we’re already talking with people — a prominent restaurant owner is one — who are interested in building and locating nearby. We struggle to retain our young professionals; this development will help us keep them.”

Patel said after initial “blowback” from some in the community who do not want to see any kind of change, he’s been greeted with enthusiasm by Leesburg and Lee County officials.

“I’m thankful for the leadership in Leesburg,” he said. “And this is what’s really cool about the group I’ve worked with: I can’t really say that they shared the vision I had for the development, but they were all excited about the possibility of improving their community.

“It’s also pretty cool that Umong, Matthew and I are working together on this. Typically, developers compete against each other. But we share a similar vision for our community.”

Patel said the development partners plan to break ground on the Wooten Station project — a nod to Leesburg’s original name — in the fall. Their plan now is to finish the first phase of the project, which includes 65 units, in 12 months and to complete the development in two years.

The one- and two-bedroom units in the project will average between 800 and 1,000 square feet, Patel said, and will be a short drive from many of the area locations where young professionals work.

“This development will be unique in this region,” he said. “The beauty of its is, we won’t be ‘fixing’ something, we’ll be creating. To use the analogy of farming, it doesn’t make sense to grow a product if there’s no one to sell the food to. We want to grow this population of young professionals in our region. That’s how you stop the population decline; you provide these young people a place where they can be comfortable and interact with people just like themselves.

“You grow your population by 250 of these successful young professionals a year, and 10 years down the road, look what you’ve done. And we offer all these bright young professionals something most of them haven’t had before: A chance, and a place, to come home.”