Preparing for the future of economic development is something the City of Flowood has been very good at over the past decade.
However, much of what looks exciting upon completion, like a new Holiday Inn Express, or a $500 million mix of used development, and even a recently announced Chick-Fil-A, started with planning and basic details.
Flowood’s latest, unsexy, but necessary project for the future has just been completed.
With the help of $600,00 in ARPA funding, Flowood completed the Liberty Road Detention Basin to make more land available for economic development.
The project for the city of nearly 11,000 residents has been in the works in various forms since the early 2000s.
This project is similar to why Governor Tate Reeves recently spent more than $110 million on economic development upgrades to better prepare sites so communities can recruit projects for the future. Although the Flowood money came from the federal government and not the state government, the planning for success is the same.
“Flowood is preparing for the future by looking not only at where future infrastructure could be located, but also how current infrastructure can be improved and upgraded,” Daniel Lang, director of economic development at City of Flowood, told the Clarion Ledger. “The people who have already chosen Flowood as their home are just as important as Flowood’s growth. We value them and want to continue serving them.”
Many of the improvements in the basin’s immediate drainage area were constructed before Flowood had ordinances requiring detention to slow stormwater, which led to problems downstream. This basin will slow the water, preventing any downstream flooding problems and erosion.
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Now, across the street from Holiday Inn Express and at the intersection of Flowood Drive and Daughdrill Station, dirt is being turned into a new project.
The 14th hotel for the Rankin County city of just under 11,000 residents will be built there.
Plans for a new Fairfield Inn are in the works and groundbreaking has already begun.
The Fairfield Inn is expected to have 93 rooms and be completed in fall 2025.
The construction is the latest in a wave of developments for the city.
Just a few miles east of the new Fairfield Inn, Mississippi’s third Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburger opened just a few months ago.
