Chilis restaurant has plans to locate in the new Dawson Crossroads shopping center at Ga. 400 and Dawson Forest Road, officials said.

Chilis will be an outparcel user, said Bill Brown, president of Halpern Enterprises, the developer of the 29-acre mixed-use development.

Halpern also announced last week that Brooklyn Joes Pizza, Great Clips and Lee Nails have signed leases.

The 100,000-square-foot development includes a primary 45,000-square-foot national grocery retailer, a secondary 20,000-square-foot retailer, other retail spaces and six separate outparcels.

And while there is speculation that Publix is set to anchor the development, Brenda Reed, the Florida-based companys media relations manager, said no locations have been confirmed.

We can only comment on confirmed sites, she said.

Last week, the first truckloads of trees and dirt were being cleared on the site.

Its our feeling that Dawsonville is in need of some good, new, high-quality retail and thats what we intend to develop over there during the next year-plus, Brown said. Dawsonville is a good place to be at this time.

The area, according to Brown, has been underserved from a retail perspective.

Theres a lot of traffic up there and the biggest sign of that is the divergent interchange at Highway 53, he said. Those are put in places where there are a lot of cars on the road.

Additionally, the project will include 300 apartment units.

Charlie Auvermann, director of the Dawson Development Authority, worked eight years on attracting developers to the site.

I think given the sites terrain, this plan is both fresh and a very effective use of a critical commercial corner in our county, he said. The fact that it will include Class A apartments on the site is also a benefit because we have not had a large number of new apartments available in Dawson for quite some time.

The units, he said, will be attractive to young people and families just starting out.

It shows that Dawson County remains a key retail and commercial hub for our region, Auvermann said. This site will attract shoppers not just from Dawson, but from North Forsyth and Northwest Hall.

Auvermann and Dawson County Commission Chair Mike Berg agree the added sales tax revenue will be significant.

It reduces the pressure on the board of commissioners and the school board to raise personal property taxes, he said. This is a huge benefit for our citizens.