MOULTRIE – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for the Moultrie Exchange, a commercial development that is being built north of Lowe’s Home Improvement Store and east of Harbor Freight.

In July, Colquitt County, the City of Moultrie and the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority partnered together to assist in funding for this commercial development project, signing an intergovernmental agreement. Skylar Long of JBS Capital said the stores committed to the project were Hobby Lobby, Marshall’s and Five Below.

Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority Chairman Ross Dekle welcomed the attendees, “Glad to be here on what is a momentous day for our community, the end of a nearly two-year journey of what we’ve called Project Deuce. Now with the shovel in the ground in the future it’ll be Moultrie Exchange.”

He said the space would be almost 100,000 square feet of retail shopping.

Dekle introduced the developers of the project, Skylar Long, Jarrett Nease and Brian Bennett, although Bennett was not in attendance.

“We are so proud to finally be at this moment where we can break ground on what’s the first large project we’ve had as the Moultrie-Colquitt Development Authority in nearly six years,” Dekle said.

He said it would be the first step in many fantastic things to come for the community.

“Here with us, today, we have members of our construction team, members of the Moultrie City Council and our Colquitt County Board of Commissioners,” Dekle said.

He added that the city council and the board of commissioners were pivotal partners in making the venture happen.

“Anytime you’re investing in a project like this, we don’t take the spending of tax dollars lightly and our community partners, as well,” he said.

Dekle added that they went into the project with the greatest concern of being good stewards of tax dollars, good stewards of the community and, ultimately, delivering a project that the community could get behind and support. He said the project will generate millions of dollars in property and sales tax each year to give back to the city, to the county and to the schools to benefit the community for years to come.

“A lot of focus was given on this project staying as local as possible,” said Dekle.

He also mentioned the names of contractors that are working on the project including Buxton Construction, Stellar Contracting, Hancock and Sons Utility, Reese Construction, Concrete Enterprises and Vines Landscaping. He also said that he wanted to thank the JBS group for doing everything they could to support the local contractors and suppliers for the project.

Dekle then thanked the city council members, county commissioners and the development authority team for all of the work and effort that went into making the project a success.

“I look forward to Moultrie Exchange serving Moultrie and Colquitt County for decades to come,” Dekle said.

WATCH the groundbreaking ceremony for Moultrie Exchange here.