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As the year comes to an end, Hogansville Mayor Jake Ayers assures residents that they have much to look forward to in 2024.

Ayers plans to improve the city of Hogansville by working on infrastructure, real estate opportunities, and even new recreational and entertainment ventures.

One of Ayers’ top priorities for 2024 is the creation of new real estate properties throughout the city. The properties would potentially create new affordable housing opportunities for incoming and current residents to take advantage of.

“We’ve got a lot of proposed developments coming to the Hogansville residential area that have already been slated,” Ayers said. “We’ve got close to over 1000, probably 1,200 new residential units, and that’s a combination of single-family homes and some multi-family apartment complexes. I think one big goal is to try to work with those developers and builders to get some of those ideas off the ground.”

The housing will consist of private and housing authority properties to ensure diversity within the market. The city recently approved a 400-page unified development ordinance (UDO), further promoting fair housing opportunities.

“The UDO has given us a lot of abilities to bring different creative housing to Hogansville,” Ayers explained. “I would love to try and recruit some more developers and builders who are interested in providing some more alternative options — things that would maybe include smaller, micro kind of home developments that you don’t see a lot in cities like Hogansville.”

Ayers also plans to develop more recreational spaces throughout Hogansville. With three children of his own, Ayers says he wants to promote outdoor activities to young residents by building a park with a possible trail extension around the city.

“I want some sort of active park to be available within walking distance of our residents,” Ayers said. “We just got our first draft of a comprehensive park plan for Hogansville. One of my personal goals while I’m in leadership is to provide a safe, available, active, and fun outdoor space for any citizens.”

To bring in more options for entertainment in the town, Ayers is also overseeing the renovation of the Royal Theatre.

With several grants and a few private donors, the multi-million dollar project will include seating for over 400 guests and serve as a multifunctional space for live entertainment and films.

“We are currently finishing up phase one of the project and have already approved to start phase two,” Ayers said. “We are set to hopefully open October of next year.”

To help push upcoming projects further, Ayers urges the community to get involved in the changes happening throughout the city.

“I want people to be prepared to see some really good change come to Hogansville and I want them to be excited about what’s going to happen in the community,” Ayers said. “I would just like to encourage people to find ways to get involved in the community because it helps a lot.”