UrbanizeAtlNewsBot

Photos: Latest Beltline retailer opens at revised shopping center Josh Green Mon, 09/23/2024 - 08:27 Nearly two years after renovations wrapped, a reconfigured shopping center that aims to bridge the “gap between Midtown’s energy and the recreational haven offered by the Beltline” has a new cornerstone retailer in place with trail frontage.

Beltline officials and company leaders recently cut the ribbon on a unique flagship location of The Athlete’s Foot at Midtown Promenade, a 931 Monroe Drive shopping center just south of Piedmont Park along the Beltline’s Eastside Trail.

The two-story store includes an entry off the Beltline, space for the sneaker retailer’s corporate functions, and a community center on the main floor for hosting local sports-based initiatives, alongside custom murals reflecting Atlanta sites and culture.

It’s another shopping option at an Eastside Trail pitstop with a fresh roster of services and food-and-beverage offerings.

Proximity of the Beltline's Eastside Trail (left) to Midtown Promenade's new flagship The Athlete's Foot. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Beginning in 2021, Krog District owners Asana Partners and SRS Real Estate Partners remade Midtown Promenade into a more accessible, modernized 111,000-square-foot retail hub with access to the Beltline’s most patronized section.

Previously, the shopping center faced away from the Beltline, and several facades still do, but behind them now are a plaza, stairs, a ramp, and landscaping. A breezeway through the property, dotted with storefronts, was carved from former retail space.

Other food and retail offerings at the revised Midtown Promenade include Amalfi Coast-inspired seafood restaurant Alici, Colorado-based breakfast and brunch restaurant Snooze, sister Mexican concepts Yumbii and The Queso Shop (with Beltline patio spaces), Intown Animal Hospital, and Restore Hyper Wellness, among several others.

Midtown Promenade remains anchored by Trader Joe’s and Landmark Theatres’Midtown Art Cinema. Longtime attractions Richards Variety Store and F.R.O.G.S. Cantina, along with home décor retailer Tuesday Morning and Ah-Ma’s Taiwanese Kitchen, previously departed the shopping center to make way for changes.

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Patio seating and new entry points at Midtown Promenade. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

In another Beltline-altering endeavor two miles south on the Eastside Trail, Asana is behind the multifaceted expansion of Krog Street Market and Atlanta Stove Works into the broader Krog District. Nearby, the company also remade one of Coca-Cola’s first bottling plants into a hub of creative offices in Old Fourth Ward.

The developer is also a partner in the new 1050 Brickworks spec office building that’s continued West Midtown’s vertical growth this year.

Find a closer look at Midtown’s newest Beltline attraction in the gallery above.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

931 Monroe Drive NE Midtown Promenade Trader Joe's Richards Variety Store Metro Green Development Beltline Eastside Trail Atlanta BeltLine Bohler Engineering Core Shear Structural Atlanta Construction Adaptive-Reuse Metro Green Construction ASD|SKY Asana Partners SRS Real Estate Partners The Athlete's Foot Beltline Retail Beltline Stores

Images

Proximity of the Beltline's Eastside Trail (left) to Midtown Promenade's new flagship The Athlete's Foot. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Courtesy of The Athlete's Foot

Patio seating and new entry points at Midtown Promenade. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Subtitle Trail-fronting, flagship Athlete's Foot is cornerstone of reconfigured Midtown Promenade

Neighborhood Midtown

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Images: Midtown's Rambler project officially reaches max height Josh Green Fri, 09/20/2024 - 15:11 Just a year after site work began, another stack of amenitized student housing has topped out in Midtown, this time standing over Atlanta’s signature street.

Officials with Texas developer LV Collective confirm to Urbanize Atlanta that vertical construction has finished at Rambler Atlanta, a project that began late last summer and was just a few stories out of the ground as recently as April.

The 736 Peachtree St. development, which modified its height twice before breaking ground, stands 19 stories on a former parking lot, two blocks north of the landmark Fox Theatre.

Rambler Atlanta will count 214 apartments and 2,977 square feet of retail space, according to building permit records. The Rambler name echoes another LV Collective project, Rambler ATX, in the developer’s home city of Austin.

Vertical construction progress at the Rambler project last week in Midtown. Contributed

Plans for the retail arrangement fronting Peachtree Street. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Rambler's 1-acre property had long been used as surface parking bounded by Peachtree Street, 4th Street, and to the west, Cypress Street. Under construction now are student apartments offering 798 bedrooms total, with amenities on the top floor. The location, as developers have noted, is less than a quarter-mile from Georgia Tech buildings at Tech Square.

Renderings indicate a café with outdoor dining will be recessed into the building, facing Peachtree Street, with exposed pillars and garden-like components, as opposed to glass storefronts. These facets are now clearly visible near the street.

The building’s resident lobby and leasing office will also be placed near Peachtree, at the corner of 4th Street, according to site plans.

Building amenities will include coworking spaces, bike lockers, and a pet spa on lower levels, with a pool deck, fitness center, and outdoor terrace positioned on or near the roof, according to architects. Elsewhere, plans call for screening a 134-space, three-level parking garage with a perforated masonry wall, a means to help hide the deck.

Meanwhile, the western face along Cypress Street will see no active uses, instead housing loading and service areas at what will essentially be the tower’s backside.

The 736 Peachtree St. development viewed recently from the south (left) and west along Cypress Street. Contributed

Revised facade of the 736 Peachtree St. property. LV Collective; designs, Niles Bolton Associates

When initially presented to the Midtown Development Review Committee in 2022, LV Collective’s plans for the Peachtree site called for a building standing much taller: 37 stories with 480 apartments. That was later reduced to 29 stories and 374 units. Then in summer 2023, the height and unit count were scaled back again to the current size, though development officials haven’t provided answers as to why.

The Rambler building is expected to deliver in 2025, according to LV Collective. Niles Bolton Associates architects, Archie Bolden, and Michael Hsu Architecture are all listed as partners on the project.

The project joins three other student towers that delivered in Midtown in 2023 alone, with more in the pipeline. Those include another LV Collective venture, Whistler, the final building in SCAD Atlanta’s recent growth spurt, and Hub Atlanta.

Swing up to the gallery for more project images and context.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

736 Peachtree Street NE Rambler Atlanta New Mixed-Use Midtown Tower LV Collective Peachtree Street 4th Street Niles Bolton Associates Kimley Horn Kimley-Horn & Associates Morris Manning & Martin Mixed-Use Mixed-Use Development Atlanta Development Atlanta Construction Cypress Street Archie Bolden Michael Hsu Architecture Atlanta Student Housing Student Housing

Images

Vertical construction progress at the Rambler project last week in Midtown. Contributed

The 736 Peachtree St. development viewed recently from the south (left) and west along Cypress Street. Contributed

Perspectives on the 736 Peachtree site's former condition. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Current plans for Rambler Atlanta's Peachtree facade. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

How the project will meet Cypress Street, a block west of Peachtree. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Plans for the retail arrangement fronting Peachtree Street. LV Collective/Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Midtown Alliance

Original, taller plans for how the LV Collective 37-story proposal would have met Peachtree Street, at left. LV Collective; designs, Niles Bolton Associates

How the original designs would have looked facing south toward downtown (left) and west, to Cypress Street. LV Collective/City of Atlanta Office of Buildings; designs, Niles Bolton Associates

Subtitle Well that was quick...

Neighborhood Midtown

Background Image

Image

Associated Project

736 PEACHTREE STREET NE

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Pricey Gold Dome expansion project roars ahead downtown Josh Green Fri, 09/20/2024 - 14:03 Scaffolding and major demolition work around Georgia’s famed Gold Dome signal the beginnings of a large-scale expansion project that state lawmakers have called long overdue downtown.

The cost of the Georgia Capitol redo and a new legislative building will be $392 million, as paid for with the $36 billion in state revenue lawmakers approved for this fiscal year.

State lawmakers have said they’re bursting at the seams of Georgia’s historic 1889 Capitol and an adjacent office building, necessitating the Gold Dome overhaul and expansion that will see a rare new office building erected from the ground up downtown.

The budget will also cover safety and security upgrades at the Capitol Hill complex, in addition to $83 million channeled toward preserving the historical integrity of the Gold Dome.

A fresh, thin layer of actual gold is being applied to the Capitol dome as part of updates.

 

Just north of the Capitol, across Martin Luther King Jr. Drive toward the high-rise heart of downtown, an eight-story legislative office building is planned to replace two partially vacant, state-owned buildings.

Demolition work to bring down those structures recently kicked off, as is visible along Piedmont Avenue.

Demolition progress this week at a state-owned building where Georgia Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children was housed. Contributed

The site in relation to the Gold Dome (background), looking south. Contributed

That 260,000-square-foot office project would also include a new parking garage with 500 spaces, all linked via a skybridge to the Gold Dome, as lawmakers revealed in February.

The new structure will replace a dated, 1980s office building just south of the Capitol that houses most legislative offices and committee rooms today but is in need of upgrades such as new mechanical and heating systems and lacks sufficient meeting rooms.  

Project leaders have said new construction around the Capitol should be finished by the end of 2026.

The downtown block Georgia lawmakers have targeted for a new office building. Google Maps

Another aspect of the work will be the restoration of a grand Capitol library that’s been obscured and sectioned into offices under the Gold Dome. Other offices built into the building’s original mezzanines will be purged, opening those formerly grand spaces back up, too, as the Associated Press previously reported.

An earlier, $208 million proposal to renovate the Coverdell Legislative Office Building on the south side of the Capitol as an overcrowding solution would have created less space—leaving fewer dollars for Gold Dome upgrades—and required that lawmakers work from portable trailers for two years, officials have said.

The 1880s building's frontage on Capitol Avenue. Shutterstock

In other recent demolition news from the area, Georgia state government in June demolished the original World of Coca-Cola (vacant since 2007) to make way for a new surface parking lot next to another state-owned building, the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot events space.

That will replace some parking being lost to staging areas for construction crews during the Gold Dome expansion. 

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

Tags

Georgia Capitol Gold Dome Governor Brian Kemp Georgia Legislature Gold Dome Expansion Downtown Offices Atlanta Office Space Office Space Georgia Government Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Atlanta Architecture Atlanta History Georgia History State of Georgia Atlanta Demolition Demolition World of Coca-Cola

Images

Demolition progress this week at a state-owned building where Georgia Office of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children was housed. Contributed

Demolition work along Piedmont Avenue downtown, just north of Georgia’s historic 1889 Capitol. Contributed

The site in relation to the Gold Dome (background), looking south. Contributed

The downtown block Georgia lawmakers have targeted for a new office building. Google Maps

An eight-story office building would rise at right along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive should lawmakers' plans come to fruition. Google Maps

The 1880s building's frontage on Capitol Avenue. Shutterstock

Subtitle Demolition, fresh gold application underway along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Piedmont Avenue

Neighborhood Downtown

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

New details, glimpses emerge for Underground Atlanta sky-rise Josh Green Fri, 09/20/2024 - 08:10 It’s been a seismic week for urban-planning news around Atlanta, especially in downtown, and chief among those happenings is confirmation that hundreds of new residences are bound for Underground Atlanta in the district’s first large-scale, ground-up development in decades.

Following an Invest Atlanta vote Thursday that project leaders call crucial, the development team behind the 30-story proposal at Underground shed more light on where the tower stands today—and how it will look and function, should timelines go according to plan, sometime in 2027.

The 405-unit project is a joint venture between Underground owner Lalani Ventures and Exact Capital, a New York City-based real estate firm whose other work in Atlanta includes the nearly finished Skyline apartment building near the Beltline’s Southside Trail.

The tower’s 76 Wall St. site—bordered by Peachtree Street to the west, Wall Street to the north, Pryor Street to the east, and Upper Alabama Street to the south—is at a section of Underground called fountain plaza, across the street from two parking decks. The site is also steps from MARTA’s Five Points station, Atlanta’s largest and busiest transit hub, but contrary to ATL urbanist wishes, the tower won’t be totally bereft of new parking.

Closer look at the 76 Wall St. proposal's base floors. (We've asked for clarification on which cross-streets these are and will relay any details that come.)Designs, Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Underground Atlanta.

According to Jacob Vallo, Lalani Ventures’ chief investment officer and a former MARTA executive, the Underground tower’s plans call for a “well below market parking-to-unit ratio” that will bank on “phenomenal transit access and the walkability of downtown,” according to an announcement issued by Underground officials.

The mixed-income tower, for now, is still considered to be in planning phases led by Lalani Ventures and Exact Capital. Atlanta-based architects Niles Bolton Associates are handling design, engineering, and permitting. The firm’s recent work in Atlanta includes the posh student-housing tower Whistler near Georgia Tech and a mixed-use, Novel-branded proposal in Blandtown.

Underground owner Shaneel Lalani, Lalani Ventures CEO, and Craig Livingston and Michael Callaghan of Exact Capital have estimated the tower will cost $160 million to develop.

Invest Atlanta’s board this week approved an inducement for a $40 million tax exempt bond issuance that project leaders say will help the project pencil out with below-market apartments baked in. (That’s more than Lalani paid for the entire Underground property in 2020.) Before the project closes on its construction loan, which is predicted to happen sometime next year, the same board will have another opportunity to vet the project before giving a final resolution, according to Underground reps.

Planned location of the 30-story Underground Atlanta residential tower, next to main plazas and fountains. Google Maps

Plans call for 163 of the 405 apartments to be reserved as affordable housing for renters earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. All apartments will be housed in the same tower structure, sharing the same amenities.

Lalani Ventures and Exact Capital’s timeline calls for breaking ground on the building by the end of next year, which means construction should be well underway by the time FIFA World Cup crowds flock into Atlanta in summer 2026.

Nearby, Lalani is also planning to convert two-thirds of the One Park Tower he owns at 34 Peachtree St. into housing.  

Nearly four years after Lalani scooped up the historic, 400,000-square-foot complex spanning 12 downtown acres for $31.6 million, he says an arts and retail-focused “renaissance” is afoot.

As seen in July, the 76 Wall St. building where the residential tower is planned at Underground Atlanta's northern edge. Google Maps

Underground’s growing tenant rosters includes newer additions such at Atlanta Comedy Theatre, Insomnia Night Club, Utopia Restaurant Bar & Lounge, speakeasy and theater Pigalle by Paris on Ponce, and The Frisky Whisker ATL, described as an “eclectic sound gallery and listening lounge and cafe, featuring dozens of friendly cats.”

Seven art galleries are operating at Lower Underground, with two more at Upper Underground, and The Masquerade music and events venue is on pace to host 700 shows this year. Beloved Atlanta nightclub MJQ Concourse is also completing renovations now on the former Dante’s Down the Hatch space, according to Lalani.

“This [apartment tower] is part of our overall vision to create Atlanta’s top arts and entertainment community,” Lalani said in a statement. “Having residents live right here will create more vibrancy for this beloved property with historic roots, which in turn will have a great impact on downtown.”

Designs, Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Underground Atlanta.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

Tags

76 Wall St. Underground Atlanta Transit Downtown Development (42348) Lalani Ventures Exact Capital Exact Capital Group Affordable Housing Invest Atlanta Dallas Austin Pigalle by Paris on Ponce Pigalle MJQ MJQ Concourse Niles Bolton Associates

Images

Closer look at the 76 Wall St. proposal's base floors. (We've asked for clarification on which cross-streets these are and will relay any details that come.)Designs, Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Underground Atlanta.

Planned location of the 30-story Underground Atlanta residential tower, next to main plazas and fountains. Google Maps

As seen in July, the 76 Wall St. building where the residential tower is planned at Underground Atlanta's northern edge. Google Maps

Invest Atlanta

Designs, Niles Bolton Associates; courtesy of Underground Atlanta.

Subtitle Now with Invest Atlanta blessing, $160M proposal calls for more than 400 residences, minimal parking

Neighborhood Downtown

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Spotted: Clue for potential new Atlanta Amtrak station site? Josh Green Thu, 09/19/2024 - 15:53 Specific plans remain hush-hush, but Amtrak’s pick for a new multi-modal hub site in Atlanta ranks among the most compelling topics for urbanists around the city.

Could a clue have emerged this week from, of all places, a corporate retreat?

A masterplan presentation at Georgia World Congress Center Authority’s board retreat this week indicates the state agency is at least considering the mobility impacts of a potential Amtrak hub being located near its massive, 220-acre downtown campus, where multiple phases of mixed-use redevelopment are being considered. The board went into executive session to protect discussions related to the presentation, according to a Wednesday agenda.

One GWCCA objective is to “leverage transportation improvements like the Amtrak multi-modal hub and the Beltline to enhance connectivity and attract future developments,” notes the masterplan document. “This supports the vision of making the area more accessible and pedestrian-friendly.”

A well-connected downtown source separately tells Urbanize Atlanta that Amtrak and GWCC have been in discussions, but that’s unconfirmed.

A GWCCA spokesperson wrote via email today that Amtrak was “not discussed at all” during the Wednesday retreat. “Beyond that,” the spokesperson tells Urbanize, “we can’t comment on anything discussed during executive session.”

What’s certain is that both Amtrak and GWCCA have entered ambitious expansion modes.

Overview of the GWCCA campus, looking toward Midtown. Shutterstock

Amtrak’s general and legislative annual report for fiscal year 2025 includes a request for nearly $30 million in federal funding to secure a development site for a new intercity rail hub in Atlanta—and to start the process of building it. In an email to Urbanize in July, officials with America’s National Railroad Passenger Corporation praised Atlanta’s potential as a strategic hub location, but they didn’t divulging where it could be built.  

Amtrak has pinpointed intown Atlanta for a new station that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and, eventually, reestablish the city as the important rail hub it historically was, as part of Amtrak’s national growth spurt and hiring spree. According to Amtrak’s report, some of the Atlanta land in question is “at imminent risk of development,” but the location is referred to only vaguely as being downtown. Whether “downtown” actually means downtown Atlanta, or is a general reference to more urban parts of the city, isn't yet clear.

“We are excited to work with local, state, federal, and railroad partners to help secure a site for an improved and expanded Amtrak station in Atlanta,” reads a July statement provided by Amtrak.

Meanwhile, in May, nascent plans came to light for a potential $1.1 to $1.3-billion mixed-use growth phase around the GWCC.

Designs compiled by Atlanta-based architecture firm HKS marked the GWCCA’s first masterplan since 2008, prior to a major convention center expansion, the construction of its Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and other updates to campus. In general, the new development strategy calls for hotel rooms, housing, offices, and retail space—some of it directly linked to a multi-use Atlanta BeltLine connection trail, the Westside Beltline Connector—on what’s underused land today. The result could be a more robust convention business and more developed blocks around Atlanta’s Westside, especially in Vine City, per designers.

More recently, GWCCA officials selected a development team to transform the 11-acre Home Depot Backyard (the Georgia Dome’s former site) into a new entertainment district spanning up to 250,000 square feet. That team includes Atlanta development firm Fuqua Development, local investment and development company Pope and Land Real Estate, and Minneapolis-headquartered architects Nelson Worldwide—the same partnership that created The Battery Atlanta. Exactly what the project might entail, what it might cost, and when it could break ground hasn’t been detailed.  

The two main development sites in question (at top). Property adjacent to MARTA’s GWCC/CNN Center station is also being considered. GWCCA

As revealed on these pages in June, Amtrak’s $29.9 million grant request for “Atlanta Hub” would support property acquisition to preserve future railroad right-of-way and "ensure that the Hub station site can be connected with existing main line track,” per the Amtrak report. The funding would also help cover early phase prerequisites such as engineering and work to have the project cleared under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

But that funding would only be a start.

Amtrak estimates the new Atlanta facility would cost roughly $700 million once needed infrastructure investments are factored in. That includes new trackage to separate passenger service from freight operations.

The Atlanta City Council passed a resolution in 2022 urging Amtrak to consider downtown as a viable location for a rail hub; at the time, the $5-billion Centennial Yards megaproject was considered the leading alternative, with the Armour Yards district near Lindbergh also being mentioned. In April, Armour Yards was revealed as one of four locations where Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens wants to see BeltLine-connected MARTA infill stations built in coming years, though how those would be funded remains a question mark. Centennial Yards, meanwhile, is teeming with construction for the initial phases of a massive mixed-use district.

The request for Atlanta funding came as part of $4 billion in Amtrak grant requests for base needs and modernization of its system as passenger numbers are on the uptick. Amtrak leadership has said the company is on pace to grow its ridership to 66 million annual passengers—more than doubling peak ridership in pre-pandemic 2019—by 2040.

In fiscal year 2025, Amtrak expects ridership to reach nearly 35 million.  

Amtrak's goals for rail service expansion around the Southeast, with Atlanta as the hub. Light blue represents new rail lines; yellow, enhanced services; and dark blue is Amtrak's existing national network. Amtrak

Atlanta’s current Amtrak station was built in 1918 in what was then a suburban setting, designed for a small number of passengers. Other drawbacks include no parking, no connections to local transit, an undersized waiting room, and poor access from the station building to its single platform below, which is a particular challenge for disabled passengers, the Amtrak report notes.

Amtrak has signaled interest in recent years to reestablish Atlanta as a predominant railroad hub, with routes fingering out to Charlotte, Nashville, Macon, Montgomery, Birmingham, Savannah, and other cities.

Today, just one Amtrak line serves Atlanta—the New York City-to-New Orleans Crescent.

Amtrak’s report states the modernized new station would boost the customer experience on the Crescent route and link Atlanta with new intercity passenger trains to cities small and large—Chattanooga, Greenville, SC, Memphis, and Meridian, MS are all named—in addition to the airport. The grant request isn’t tied to any proposals already moving through the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development program process, but it’s compatible with that effort, per Amtrak.

Amtrak's 15-year planAmtrak

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

Tags

Amtrak Amtrak Peachtree Station Downtown Atlanta Alternate Transportation Alternative Transportation Atlanta Rail rail service Railroads Georgia World Congress Center GWCCA GWCC Georgia World Congress Center Authority

Images

Amtrak's goals for rail service expansion around the Southeast, with Atlanta as the hub. Light blue represents new rail lines; yellow, enhanced services; and dark blue is Amtrak's existing national network. Amtrak

Amtrak's 15-year planAmtrak

Overview of the GWCCA campus, looking toward Midtown. Shutterstock

The two main development sites in question (at top). Property adjacent to MARTA’s GWCC/CNN Center station is also being considered. GWCCA

Subtitle Mention of "Amtrak multi-modal hub" appears on recent downtown-focused agenda

Neighborhood Downtown

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Massive bridge structure installed on Buckhead's answer to Beltline Josh Green Thu, 09/19/2024 - 13:33 A key component of PATH400 that could stand as a highlight for multi-use trail enthusiasts across metro Atlanta has nearly finished its complex, yearlong installation.

C.W. Matthews Contracting Company is putting the finishing touches on the Mountain Way Common bridge, a trail structure that soars nearly 60 feet high between Ga. Highway 400 and towering trees.

The bridge is further proof the expansion of the existing, 12-foot-wide PATH400 trail north to Loridans Drive is coming together. Only the gap between Loridans Drive up to Atlanta city limits at Sandy Springs remains to be built; beyond that, Sandy Springs has approved a $20.1 million construction contract to extend the pathway past Interstate 285 into Central Perimeter.   

Handrails to complete the Mountain Way Common bridge are being fabricated offsite and should be installed with two weeks, allowing construction crews to focus on the Loridans Drive section of the trail to the north, according to an update from Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead executive director.  

The Mountain Way Common bridge structure awaiting concrete recently—from 60 feet above the ground. Livable Buckhead/PATH400

Fresh concrete installed atop the elevated PATH400 bridge. Livable Buckhead/PATH400

The height and scope of the PATH400 project echoes another bridge that’s being installed as part of the Atlanta Beltline’s Southside Trail construction over Ormewood Avenue, though the latter bridge stands about 20 feet shorter.

Both are proof the infamous “glorified sidewalk” description for Atlanta multi-use pathways remains woefully off-base.

Livable Buckhead is hosting a PATH400 construction tour near the new bridge at 10 a.m. Saturday, but registration spots are extremely limited as of this writing. (The agency is also hosting an online trivia game that asks how many pounds the Mountain Way Common bridge’s concrete actually weighs, with the closest guess garnering the winner a free GoBuckheadATL card.)

Construction progress on the next northward leg of PATH400 near Mountain Way Common (left) and looking south into central Buckhead (right). Livable Buckhead/PATH400

Plans are also moving forward to install a large, bold, artistic gateway to the trail at a key entry point: the top section of Miami Circle off Piedmont Road, home to the Southeast’s largest collection of art galleries and attractions such as Eclipse di Luna restaurant. As is, PATH400 links to a parking lot next to Eclipse di Luna by way of a banal ramp.

Meanwhile, at the southernmost end of PATH400, a junction of trails is planned to help create a true regional network. Atlanta Beltline Inc. received a $25 million federal grant in summer 2023—the largest in project history—to help build those connections between the Beltline’s Northeast Trail, PATH400, and two other trail networks in the Lindbergh area, the Peachtree Creek Greenway, and Southfork Conservancy trails. Planning work continues in that area.

Schedules call for PATH400’s full, 5.2-mile greenway to be finished on public land adjacent to Ga. Highway 400 sometime in 2025. Partnering with Livable Buckhead on the project are the PATH Foundation and Buckhead Community Improvement District.

How PATH400 is expected to fit into a growing regional network of trails. The first dotted sections north of existing trails are under construction now. Livable Buckhead/PATH400; PATH Foundation

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Buckhead news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

PATH400 Buckhead Trail Alternate Transportation Alternative Transportation Atlanta Trails Atlanta Bike Infrastructure Atlanta Bike Paths Atlanta Biking Pedestrian infrastructure Peachtree Creek Greenway South Fork Conservancy Mountain Way Common Mountain Way Common bridge GoBuckheadATL C.W. Matthews C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. Glorified Sidewalk

Images

Fresh concrete installed atop the elevated PATH400 bridge. Livable Buckhead/PATH400

The Mountain Way Common bridge structure awaiting concrete recently—from 60 feet above the ground. Livable Buckhead/PATH400

Construction progress on the next northward leg of PATH400 near Mountain Way Common (left) and looking south into central Buckhead (right). Livable Buckhead/PATH400

Subtitle Mountain Way Common bridge is key, complex feature of PATH400 greenway

Neighborhood Buckhead

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Iconic Atlanta tower set for one of largest redevelopments in U.S. Josh Green Thu, 09/19/2024 - 05:00 Like a testament to the post-pandemic reimagining of Atlanta’s downtown, one of the city’s tallest skyscrapers is set for a mixed-use makeover with a scale of redevelopment that project leaders are calling among the largest in the U.S. right now.

Atlanta-based pulp and paper colossus Georgia-Pacific has unveiled plans for transforming its iconic, eponymous world headquarters on Peachtree Street into a blend of sky-high apartments, offices, and a block-sized retail and entertainment hub designed to engage downtown dwellers and enliven the district.

The goal, according to development reps, is to set a new standard for adaptive-reuse in Atlanta while reaffirming Georgia-Pacific’s commitment to downtown’s future.

Standing 51 stories and 697 feet, Georgia-Pacific Center is the sixth-tallest skyscraper in Atlanta—and one of the most recognizable, with its pink granite exterior and dramatic, stair-stepped rear design and changeable lighting patterns facing east. The Class A office tower, counting 1.3 million square feet today, was opened in 1982.

Georgia-Pacific Tower's south facade, with its distinctive stair-stepped design pointed east. Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

But as downtown continues to grapple with historically high office vacancy rates—just shy of 29 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s second quarter market report—a new day could be dawning for Georgia-Pacific tower spaces where Atlantans have reported to work for decades.

Redevelopment plans call for more than 400 apartments to be created from offices on the landmark tower’s uppermost floors, resulting in some of the highest residential units offered across the Southeast, according to project reps. (For context, that’s at least 100 more rental units than have recently sprung up in Centennials Yards’ first new tower in downtown’s stadium district.)

Other notable facets would include a large, landscaped, MARTA-connected central plaza spanning 35,000 square feet, facing Peachtree Street and replacing what are stark spaces today along the Atlanta Streetcar line.

Ground-level conditions on the north side of the Georgia-Pacific tower today. Google Maps

Where a planned 125,000 square feet of restaurant, retail, and entertainment space could help inject life into Peachtree Street downtown. Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

Plans also call for roughly 125,000 square feet of fresh restaurant, entertainment, and retail spaces that blend “modern design with the building’s historic presence,” according to project officials.

Elsewhere would be about 600,000 square feet of Class A offices anchored by Georgia-Pacific and Koch Inc., with more than 2,100 parking spaces in the mix.

All of the above is considered phase one, as enough space will be left for future development that could include a hotel, plus more retail and residences, per officials.

Georgia-Pacific has quietly assembled a development team of other companies that includes Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio (architect of record), Healy Weatherholtz (retail broker), Kimley-Horn (civil engineering), Studio Saint (interior design), Transwestern (consulting and property management), and Brasfield & Gorrie (preconstruction). That’s in addition to what’s described as Georgia-Pacific’s “in-house, mixed-use development team responsible for leading both the redevelopment efforts and the go-to-market strategy and capitalization of the project.”

The 133 Peachtree St. building's plaza today, along the Atlanta Streetcar loop. Google Maps

Activation plans for the tower's street-level plaza. Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

Project reps tells Urbanize Atlanta the construction timeline calls for breaking ground next year and delivering the reimagined property in the fall of 2027.

The scale of the project has potential to spark a renaissance in Atlanta’s main business district and lift up surrounding businesses by providing entertainment and amenity options, according to those closest to it.

“The office landscape has changed, and we recognize that the adaptive-reuse of our site and office tower can create greater long-term value,” Christian Fischer, Georgia-Pacific president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We’re also acutely aware of the need for more residential, shopping, dining, and entertainment options in our downtown neighborhood, which is why Georgia-Pacific is excited to provide a space that will offer unmatched opportunity."

Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, meanwhile, called the proposal “transformative” and a significant step toward breathing new life into downtown.

“This project aligns with many of our important ‘Moving Atlanta Forward’ initiatives, including expanding much needed housing options and fostering economic revitalization that supports local businesses,” said Dickens in the announcement. “With redesigned public spaces, new retail and restaurants, as well as easy access to public transit, we are creating a unique downtown neighborhood that will bring fresh energy to our city.”

Georgia-Pacific Center, fun facts:

• The Georgia-Pacific Center played a starring, climactic role in a 1985 Chuck Norris action flick called Invasion U.S.A.
• The building occupies the historic site of DeGive's Grand Opera House. Later the property became Loew’s Grand Theatre, where in 1939 the legendary film premiere of Gone with the Wind was held.
• The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill firm designed the structure, and its pink granite was quarried in Marble Falls, Texas. (It sustained relatively minor damage in the downtown Atlanta tornado of 2008.)
• With consumer brands such as Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, and Brawny, Georgia-Pacific and its subsidiaries are considered to be among the world’s top manufacturers of napkins, paper towels, bath tissue, building products, tableware, and other items.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Downtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

Tags

133 Peachtree St. Georgia-Pacific Center Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific Building Downtown Atlanta Downtown Development Adaptive-Reuse Adaptive-Reuse Development Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio Healy Weatherholtz Studio Saint Brasfield & Gorrie Transwestern Office Space Office Conversion Metro Atlanta Chamber Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce DeGive's Grand Opera House Loew’s Grand Theatre Gone With the Wind Skidmore Owings & Merrill Kimley-Horn & Associates Kimley-Horn Koch Inc.

Images

Georgia-Pacific Tower's south facade, with its distinctive stair-stepped design pointed east. Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

The 133 Peachtree St. building's plaza today, along the Atlanta Streetcar loop. Google Maps

Activation plans for the tower's street-level plaza. Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

Ground-level conditions on the north side of the Georgia-Pacific tower today. Google Maps

Where a planned 125,000 square feet of restaurant, retail, and entertainment space could help inject life into Peachtree Street downtown. Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

Courtesy of Chil & Co for Georgia-Pacific

Subtitle 51-story Georgia-Pacific building to include sky-high apartments, fresh plaza, retail overhaul

Neighborhood Downtown

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

30-story tower at Underground Atlanta; Beltline rail update; more! Josh Green Wed, 09/18/2024 - 16:07 DOWNTOWN—There’s good news afoot this week for Atlantans who believe the solution to downtown’s ills begins with the addition of more people living there.

Underground Atlanta owner Lalani Ventures is partnering with Exact Capital, a New York City-based real estate firm, on plans to build a 30-story mixed-use tower that would lord over the plazas where Atlanta’s famed Peach Drop is traditionally held.

As Bisnow Atlanta reports, Lalani Ventures is asking the city’s economic development arm, Invest Atlanta, for a $40-million incentive to help develop 405 apartments that would climb 30 stories from street level at 76 Wall St., where a one-story retail building stands today. Those residences would include a mix of housing types—student, market-rate, and income-restricted—while other facets of the tower project would see retail, public spaces, and art incubators.

Invest Atlanta

Planned location of the 30-story Underground Atlanta residential tower, next to main plazas and fountains. Google Maps

Lalani Ventures CEO Shaneel Lalani told the website the transit-connected project would cost $160 million total, with 163 apartments reserved for renters earning 60 percent of the area median income or less (those rents: $971 for a studio, up to $1,225 for two-bedroom units), equaling a win-win for all involved. Nearby, Lalani is also planning to convert two-thirds of the One Park Tower he owns at 34 Peachtree St. into housing.  

The 30-story building would mark Lalani’s first ground-up new development since purchasing Underground for $31.6 million four years ago. Invest Atlanta’s Urban Residential Finance Authority is scheduled to hear Lalani’s proposal Thursday, and Lalani told Bisnow the search for construction financing will commence once the incentive is approved.

Early timelines call for a two-year construction phase with delivery in 2027.

As seen in July, the 76 Wall St. building where the residential tower is planned at Underground Atlanta's northern edge. Google Maps

…

CITYWIDE—Heads up, ATL transit buffs: Atlanta Beltline officials have scheduled a Citywide Conversation next week to shed light on the ongoing Beltline Transit Study, an analysis of plans for nearly 14 miles of mobility possibilities that kicked off a year ago.   

An announcement for the virtual meeting includes a thought-provoking new rendering of a light-rail vehicle on a grassy lawn track along the Southside Trail near Pittsburgh Yards—or what Beltline rail proponents might call transit porn, and opponents a gross distortion of the truth.

Transit-rich future for the Beltline's Southside Trail? Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

The meeting is planned from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 26, with project leaders promising the latest updates on possible transit station locations, preferred routes, equitable transportation solutions, and more.

“Your engagement is essential to the success of the study and delivering on its goals and objectives of connectivity, sustainability, equity and inclusion, and future implementation and operations,” reads a meeting announcement.

Register for the 90-minute meeting right here.

…

CITYWIDE—In relevant government news, the Development Authority of Fulton County—aka, Develop Fulton—has appointed a familiar name to a top leadership position.

Former U.S. Congressman Kwanza Hall, also a longtime Atlanta City Council member, was unanimously elected Develop Fulton’s new chairman at a specially called meeting Thursday. Hall previously served as the agency’s vice chairman and will replace outgoing Chairman Georgia Sen. Brandon Beach in the lead role, according to an announcement today.

Hall, a Southwest Atlanta native who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been “a driving force behind initiatives in economic inclusion, workforce development, urban design, and the arts,” according to Develop Fulton officials. He previously served as the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. 

“Expanding Fulton County’s diverse, resilient, and thriving business community is at the heart of our mission,” said Hall, who will be sworn in as chairman next week, in a prepared statement. “We’re focused on job creation and expanding our tax base with quality development emerging from leading growth industries including logistics, clean tech, biomedical, manufacturing, fintech, and more.”

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Poll: Which major downtown ATL project is most exciting, beneficial? (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

ATL News Roundup Underground Atlanta BeltLine Rail BeltLine Rail Now! Better Atlanta Transit Beltline Transit Transit Atlanta BeltLine Beltline Kwanza Hall Fulton County Development Authority Develop Fulton Downtown Development (42348) Fulton County Pittsburgh Yards Bisnow Atlanta Bisnow Lalani Ventures Exact Capital Exact Capital Group Affordable Housing

Images

As seen in July, the 76 Wall St. building where the residential tower is planned at Underground Atlanta's northern edge. Google Maps

Planned location of the 30-story Underground Atlanta residential tower, next to main plazas and fountains. Google Maps

Invest Atlanta

Transit-rich future for the Beltline's Southside Trail? Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Subtitle Real estate, architecture, and urban planning news from around Atlanta this week

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Images: Sweet Auburn historic gem is being meticulously restored Josh Green Wed, 09/18/2024 - 13:45 Clearly (and unfortunately), they don’t make ’em like this anymore.

An adaptive-reuse restoration project that aims to help lift up Atlanta’s chronically homeless population is making strides at the Odd Fellows Building, a 250 Auburn Ave. structure that preservationist nonprofit Easements Atlanta describes as one of Sweet Auburn’s most important commercial buildings.

Behind scaffolding erected earlier this summer, restoration work is preserving the abundance of architectural features—terra cotta medallions, cast grotesques, and diapering among them—at the 1912 Odd Fellows Building designed by the Edward & Sayer firm in the Jacobean Revival style.

Plans call for turning the Odd Fellows Building into a range of stable housing and the headquarters of Georgia Works, a donor-funded nonprofit that helps homeless men transition into becoming more productive members of society. The renovation will also see four retail spaces at street level with below-market leasing rates, an effort to increase Auburn Avenue’s vibrancy and help local businesses. 

Georgia Works currently operates at the Gateway Center on Pryor Street, housing its program participants in converted jail facilities.

The Odd Fellows Building is located at the northwest corner of Auburn Avenue and Bell Street, about a block west of the Connector, in the historic Sweet Auburn district. The restoration project is estimated to cost $13.3 million overall, with the bulk of funding sourced from grants.

Previous condition of the 1912 landmark building where Auburn Avenue meets Bell Street. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Expected look of the Odd Fellows Building's facade after renovations. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

The main Odd Fellows structure opened in 1912, followed by an annex with an auditorium the next year. The complex became an important landmark for Black Atlanta society in subsequent decades, hosting dances and myriad social functions. It underwent an extensive renovation in the 1980s but more recently slipped into disrepair, project officials have said.

Once renovated, the Odd Fellows Building will house all of Georgia Works’ operations under one roof, including the nonprofit’s offices and programming space.

Other sections will house up to 164 men at any given time, including 40 spaces for Georgia Works program participants, plus transitional housing for 124 recent graduates of the program. Those men will live in 60 shared apartments, each with two or three beds, according to Invest Atlanta.

At street level, most of the discounted retail spaces have been spoken for, officials said last summer. Georgia Works has secured letters of intent from nutrition provider Open Hand to operate a convenience store that will serve fresh, prepackaged meals; Atlanta nonprofits Civil Bikes and Bearings Bike Works plan to share a retail space; elsewhere, existing tenants The Skate Shop and Lee’s Boutique are expected to consolidate into a single storefront.

A restaurant concept is planned to occupy the fourth retail space.

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Since its founding a decade ago, Georgia Works has graduated more than 1,000 men from its program, with 80 percent of them remaining in their apartments and original jobs thereafter, earning average wages of $12 per hour, according to an Invest Atlanta update last year.

Today, the nonprofit’s housing division provides stable living options for graduates in 16 single-family houses dotted in neighborhoods around Atlanta, each leased by Georgia Works. In addition to housing, Georgia Works provides GED classes, job-placement services, help in obtaining drivers licenses, workforce training, and other services.

Georgia Works purchased the tower portion of the Odd Fellows complex with a $5-million grant from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget last year. Invest Atlanta contributed an additional $1.25-million Eastside TAD Ascension Fund grant to assist with financing.

Other partners in the project include Lord Aeck Sargent architects, Landmark Preservation, MetroGreen Construction, the Atlanta Preservation Center, DSM Real Estate Partners, Easements Atlanta, and Matt Mitchell Designs.  

Georgia Works’ plans call for opening the Auburn Avenue facility in early 2025.

Find more context and renderings for the Odd Fellows Building project in the gallery above. Below are descriptions and images depicting current work, as provided by Easements Atlanta, a nonprofit formed in 1984 by a partnership between Atlanta Preservation Center, the City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and Atlanta History Center.

...

Scaffolding at the 250 Auburn Ave. structure (left, below) was erected earlier this summer as Landmark Preservation rehabilitated windows, masonry, cast stone, and terra cotta. At right is a view of the building’s cast grotesques during rehabilitation:

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

...

Decorative spandrels were repaired and then carefully coated with a uniform color, ensuring they don’t look “too new,” per Easements Atlanta officials:

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

...

As viewed through a restored window, here’s an example of a fifth-floor Odd Fellows Building space with plenty of natural light:

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

...

On the Bell Street façade, an example of a terra cotta medallion surrounded by what’s called masonry diapering:

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

...

Before/after views of the historic 1912 windows after being restored and put back in. “With assistance from Atlanta Preservation Center student intern Jaylon Butler,” notes Easements Atlanta, “the green paint color was determined by looking at vintage photographs and informal paint analysis of the historic windows.” -->

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Sweet Auburn news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

250 Auburn Avenue NE Odd Fellows Building Georgia Works DSM Real Estate Partners Invest Atlanta Adaptive-Reuse Adaptive-Reuse Development Governor’s Office of Planning Eastside TAD Atlanta History Open Hand Civil Bikes Bearing Bike Works Atlanta Nonprofits Lee’s Boutique The Skate Shop Homelessness Historic Architecture Sweet Auburn AEMI Atlanta Emerging Markets Affordable Housing Landmark Preservation MetroGreen Construction Atlanta Preservation Center DSM Matt Mitchell Designs Lord Aeck Sargent Easements Atlanta Atlanta Preservation Edward & Sayer

Images

Previous condition of the 1912 landmark building where Auburn Avenue meets Bell Street. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Expected look of the Odd Fellows Building's facade after renovations. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Prior interior conditions at the Odd Fellows Building. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Floorplan for the Odd Fellows Building's street level. Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Georgia Works, via Invest Atlanta

Original detailing of the Odd Fellows Building. HABS collection at the Library of Congress.

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

Courtesy of Easements Atlanta

Subtitle Odd Fellows Building conversion to include homeless housing, offices, retail spaces at street level

Neighborhood Sweet Auburn

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Images: Veil lifts on indoor farmers market bound for Atlanta Josh Green Wed, 09/18/2024 - 08:06 Plans are coming into focus for an adaptive-reuse concept in Underwood Hills that’s billing itself as not just another Atlanta food hall—and not a food hall at all.

Upper West Market, billed as an authentic and indoor farmers market, is bound for a vacant office and warehouse complex at 1385 Collier Road, in an industrial district west of Interstate 75 and Buckhead.

ATL foodies might recognize the location as being around the corner from Mexican restaurant staple Nuevo Laredo Cantina and down the street from Hankook Taqueria.

The initial phase calls for two buildings being remade around a large surface parking lot, according to developers Robles Partners.

Upper West Market's planned 1385 Collier Road location in Underwood Hills, west of Buckhead. Google Maps

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

Building A will feature a 33-stall, open-air vendor area spanning about 9,000 square feet on the first floor, with 13,000 square feet of offices above. All stalls will be reserved for local producers, and other local brands in that building will include an eatery by James Beard award-winning and Michelin-recognized chef Anne Quatrano called Summerland Café.

Other signed tenants will include sustainable farm White Oak Pastures, Dips Kitchen, and familiar names Honeysuckle Gelato and HopCity, the latter planning a wine bar.

In the other building, Novare Events is planning to build out an events space with an outdoor garden, according to Robles Partners.

The 1385 Collier Road property, as seen in June, where Stream Realty Partners had planned a mix of new apartments and offices three years ago. Google Maps

Planned Upper West Market layout around 33 stalls. UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

The market’s goal is to bring “outside freshness” intown with local produce and unique goods and products, with seasonal events, cooking classes, and more tenants also in the offing, per project leaders. 

The space—designed by architecture firm ASD/SKY and Genesis Engineering—is being called America’s first indoor farmer’s market (which means air-conditioning), with inspiration from the likes of Borough Market in London and Pike Place Market in Seattle.  

The timeline calls for Upper West Market to open next summer.

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Underwood Hills news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

1385 Collier Road Upper West Market ASD/SKY Genesis Engineering Nuevo Laredo Cantina Atlanta Farmers Market Farmers Markets White Oak Pastures HopCity Wine Bar Dips Kitchen Honeysuckle Gelato Novare Events Summerland Cafe Anne Quatrano Atlanta Food Halls Food Halls Farmers Market Upper Westside Bolton Robles Partners

Images

Upper West Market's planned 1385 Collier Road location in Underwood Hills, west of Buckhead. Google Maps

The 1385 Collier Road property, as seen in June, where Stream Realty Partners had planned a mix of new apartments and offices three years ago. Google Maps

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

Planned Upper West Market layout around 33 stalls. UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

UWM; designs, ASD/SKY

Subtitle Upper West Market concept to feature chef Anne Quatrano restaurant, events space, more

Neighborhood Underwood Hills

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Gwinnett Place clears 'significant milestone' in redevelopment quest Josh Green Tue, 09/17/2024 - 16:22 The long quest to transform Gwinnett Place Mall from an outdated retail graveyard into a vibrant, urban-style communal hub marked a “significant milestone” this week, according to project leaders.

As a key step toward breaking ground, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners today OK’d the purchase and sale of 23 acres of the mall property that’s home to Macy’s department and furniture stores. It’s an effort to cobble together more of the site and bring it under county ownership for an eventual overhaul.

The commissioners’ approval will allow the Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett County to pay $16.5 million for the Macy’s sites, which are home to more than 293,000 square feet of retail buildings at the largely deserted mall property.

Plans call for the county to lease the buildings back to Macy’s, allowing for store operations to continue through early 2025, according to Gwinnett officials. (Macy's announced plans in March to close 150 stores by the end of 2026; we've asked for clarification on whether that includes the anchor Gwinnett Place Mall spaces and will relay any additional information here that comes.) 

The deal will bring Gwinnett URA’s holdings to 76 total acres at Gwinnett Place, following the acquisition of 39 acres in 2021. The purchase of Macy’s properties is scheduled to close in November.

Commissioners also approved the issuance of bonds to fund the latest purchase through the URA.  

The overarching concept for new construction, with existing big-box stores as standalone retail islands and greenspace woven throughout, per 2022 plans. Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Over the past two decades, Gwinnett Place Mall has slipped from a multi-state attraction into a magnet for unfortunate headlines that was empty enough for Netflix’s Stranger Things to transform its interiors into 1980s-style mall sets for two seasons. An economic analysis prepared by KB Advisory Group last year found the mall has hemorrhaged 87.6 percent of its collective appraised tax value over the past two decades—dropping from $167 million in 1999 to just $20.6 million—despite the county’s population swelling around it.

But brighter days could be ahead.

Nicole Love Hendrickson, Gwinnett County Chairwoman, called the acquisition of Macy’s properties “a pivotal step forward” in the mall’s redevelopment process and the county’s goal of creating “a national—and possibly international—model for equitable and impactful transformation,” according to an announcement today.

Earlier this year, Gwinnett officials announced a partnership with international real estate services firm CBRE to refine development plans and help push them forward.

Two public input studies in recent years have helped inform general goals for the mostly vacant mall.

More than 2,000 Gwinnett residents chimed in during an eight-month process that produced what’s called the Equitable Redevelopment Plan, which boiled down five key areas for preservation and growth: housing, jobs, neighborhood services, small businesses, and a cultural activity center.

Another market analysis that included 6,000 community surveys—the Gwinnett Place Mall Site Revitalization Strategy, a joint effort between Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Place CID, and Atlanta Regional Commission—produced a concept called Global Villages. That calls for housing, office space, an international community cultural center, and retail spaces situated around a central park.

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place Mall's oval-shaped property, as seen from thousands of feet above in 2022. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Should current plans come to fruition, county leaders expect to issue a Request for Proposals to formally open the search for a Gwinnett Place Mall development partner in the first quarter of 2025.

All construction timelines will remain TBD until that developer is selected and plans approved, officials said today.

In the gallery above, find more context and a quick recap of Gwinnett Place Mall redevelopment concepts the county selected in 2022.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Gwinnett County news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta) 

Tags

Gwinnett Place Mall Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District Gwinnett Place CID Atlanta Malls OTP North OTP Gwinnett Shopping Malls KB Advisory Group Duluth Dying Malls Interstate 85 Macy's Global Village Project Global Villages Orchid Grove Pleasant Hill Road CBRE Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett

Images

Current state of the 1980s mall property off Interstate 85 in Duluth, with Stone Mountain in the distance. Gwinnett Place CID; KB Advisory Group

Overview of big-box departures and tenants at Gwinnett Place Mall. Gwinnett Place CID; KB Advisory Group

Gwinnett Place CID; KB Advisory Group

The overarching concept for new construction, with existing big-box stores as standalone retail islands and greenspace woven throughout, per 2022 plans. Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Overview of the concept preferred by the majority of 2,500 people quizzed about the mall property's future, according to project leaders. Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

Gwinnett Place CID/ARC/GwinnettPlaceToBe.com

A weedy main entrance to Gwinnett Place Mall as seen in 2020. Shutterstock

Gwinnett Place Mall's oval-shaped property, as seen from thousands of feet above in 2022. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Subtitle Gwinnett County authority green-lights purchase of 23-acre Macy’s department, furniture store properties

Neighborhood Gwinnett County

Background Image

Image

Associated Project

Gwinnett Place Mall

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off

Major expansion in works for West End's lively warehouse district Josh Green Tue, 09/17/2024 - 13:36 The makers of West End’s popular Lee + White warehouse district have set their sights on a significant expansion that would create more mixed-use options along several blocks of Beltline corridor in Southwest Atlanta, according to recent filings.

The warehouse and office building in question, 1200 White St., is located just north of the existing Lee + White district, on the opposite side of Lawton Street, which bridges over the Beltline corridor.

The 1200 White St. property, owned by Lee + White developers Ackerman & Co., spans almost 13 acres. Two sides of it—the south and east faces—front on-street sections of the Westside Trail corridor. It’s currently zoned for industrial purposes (I-1).  

According to plans submitted to the Atlanta Beltline Design Review Committee, the redevelopment calls for creating a new mix of retail, office, and other commercial spaces (but no housing) within the existing 208,400-square-foot warehouse facility. Other changes would include new ADA-complaint access points from the parking lot and Beltline, parking lot updates, plus new storefront openings along the north, south, and west facades of the structure.

Project leaders are scheduled to present for the first time Wednesday to the Beltline DRC, an expert advisory group tasked with ensuring Beltline Overlay District regulations are implemented with new projects.

Proximity of the 1200 White St. facility in relation to existing Lee + White buildings and the on-street Westside Trail corridor. Google Maps

Planned revisions for the 1200 White St. building laid out in marketing materials. Ackerman & Co.

The plans are being brought by Atlanta architecture firm Studio SOGO, whose recent work in the area includes designs for a Westview firehouse conversion, plus the Edgewood building beside a MARTA station where Bona Fide Deluxe and wine shop Vin ATL now operate.

A block to the south, the 23-acre Lee + White eating, drinking, and working hub opened its long-planned food hall earlier this year and has tallied a number of recent leasing successes, the most recent being Atlanta Golf & Social and Texas-based Ogle School, a cosmetology and esthetics school.  

As is, the 1200 White St. warehouse features 22-foot ceilings and eight loading docks. There’s 284 surface parking spaces onsite today, with the potential to add 159 more, according to marketing materials.

Property records indicate the 1962 warehouse and offices were purchased by Ackerman’s team for $24 million in 2021.

Potential look of the 1200 White St. building along the future Beltline corridor. Ackerman & Co.; Studio Sogo

Ackerman & Co.

No plans for expanding the Westside Trail through the area’s former railroad corridor have been outlined as part of the 22-mile Beltline loop’s current growth spurt. That section is referred to in 1200 White St. marketing materials as the Beltline’s “natural trail.”  

Head up to the gallery for more context and images.

...

Follow us on social media:

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• West End news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)

Tags

1200 White St. SW Ackerman & Co. MDH Partners Lee + White Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail Smith Dalia Architects 929 Lee Street SW Cushman & Wakefield Carter Hill Commercial Real Estate Advisors Studio Sogo Adaptive Reuse Adaptive-Reuse Development Adaptive-Reuse Atlanta Warehouses Atlanta Adaptive-Reuse

Images

Proximity of the 1200 White St. facility in relation to existing Lee + White buildings and the on-street Westside Trail corridor. Google Maps

Potential look of the 1200 White St. building along the future Beltline corridor. Ackerman & Co.; Studio Sogo

The 1200 White St. office and warehouse building's facade today. Ackerman & Co.

Overview of the property along White Street, at left. Ackerman & Co.

Planned revisions for the 1200 White St. building laid out in marketing materials. Ackerman & Co.

Current interior conditions in 1200 White St. offices. Ackerman & Co.

The building's warehouse portion today.Ackerman & Co.

Layout of the facility's main spaces today. Ackerman & Co.

The 1200 White St. facility's current surface parking breakdown. Ackerman & Co.

Ackerman & Co.

Subtitle Situated along Atlanta Beltline, Lee + White proposal calls for another 208K square feet of mixed uses

Neighborhood West End

Background Image

Image

Before/After Images

Sponsored Post Off