ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[cybele]

Originally Posted by AtlMidtowner

...zoom in at 600% and move to the far right, you will see the first black pole and the center median. If you look carefully, the curb has been built well to the left of the black power pole. It really appears that there simply is not enough width for two lanes between the curb and the median

It does look like a mighty tight squeeze. Maybe the idea is slow traffic down in that area so people won't go barreling through at high speed.

[Pompuss]

rgreen2206,
where did these projections come from?

[echinatl]

So I was over at the aquarium and took a walk by the new dolphin section that is under construction. Looks like they've gotten out of the "giant hole" phase and are on the 2nd floor. The area is going to look great once complete, the addition will be taller than the rest of the aquarium and I was told that it will have stadium seating that will hold a couple thousand people. If the Hardrock hotel ever gets off the ground this section will really be transformed even more than it already has. I can't imagine what the area will look like once that is finished, the human rights museum is done, and the national health museum is in (if it does go next to the American Cancer Society).

[sevensixtwo]

Civil rights museum.

[sevensixtwo]

.

[jew4life4948]

Originally Posted by cybele

It does look like a mighty tight squeeze. Maybe the idea is slow traffic down in that area so people won't go barreling through at high speed.

I'm still sore about the lack of Bike Lanes on the new bridge.
14th Street is one the most diverse and visually appealing stretches of ashpalt in Atlanta.

On one end you have the newly renovated White-House Provisions, then you travel through the heart of the Woodruff Arts Campus ending at the gates of Piedmont Park.

That'd be so lovely to bike, or at least to me it would.

[NativeAtlantan]

^^^ I second that emotion (re: 14th st bike lanes)

[scania]

I can see myself biking from Plaza Midtown to the 14th St. bridge, biking up 14th St., all the way to the White Provision on Howell Mill...come on guys, that's insane. Who the heck would want to bike on Howell Mill? And 14th St.???

[jew4life4948]

Originally Posted by scania

I can see myself biking from Plaza Midtown to the 14th St. bridge, biking up 14th St., all the way to the White Provision on Howell Mill...come on guys, that's insane. Who the heck would want to bike on Howell Mill? And 14th St.???

14th at Northside and Hemphill is supposedly to become a round-a-bout according to the Connect Atlanta plan.

I think North, 10th, 14th and 17th should all be made multi-modal thoroughfares.

As should are Marietta, Northside, Spring, W. Peachtree, Peachtree, Juniper/Courtland and Piedmont.

[smArTaLlone]

Originally Posted by scania

I can see myself biking from Plaza Midtown to the 14th St. bridge, biking up 14th St., all the way to the White Provision on Howell Mill...come on guys, that's insane. Who the heck would want to bike on Howell Mill? And 14th St.???

Shot in the dark here but maybe bikers would.

[caninatl]

This is a link to some photos of the 05 Buckhead Apartments at completion. I can post some interiors as well.

http://www.victorhayes.com/proofs/manhattanbuckheadapartmentsproofs/

[cybele]

Originally Posted by caninatl

This is a link to some photos of the 05 Buckhead Apartments at completion. I can post some interiors as well.

http://www.victorhayes.com/proofs/manhattanbuckheadapartmentsproofs/

Nice photos, caninatl.

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

I think North, 10th, 14th and 17th should all be made multi-modal thoroughfares.

As should are Marietta, Northside, Spring, W. Peachtree, Peachtree, Juniper/Courtland and Piedmont.

I'd love to see Atlanta adopt a Complete Streets policy.

[ATL_sKyHigh]

Hapeville spot to include office space, hotels, retail, restaurants
By Gertha Coffee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

For now, tall mounds of recycled steel, concrete, tin, copper and asphalt dot the site that once housed the old Ford Motor Company plant in Hapeville. All the buildings have been torn down, and the developer says the remediation work that started last June is basically done.

Over the next few weeks demolition equipment will rip up the concrete slabs on the 128-acre site along I-75. Recession aside, work appears to be on track to redevelop the Hapeville site, to be called Aerotropolis Atlanta, into a mixed-use project adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
By fall, Phase 1 — light industrial and parking construction — is expected to be under way. Jacoby Development Inc., the developer that turned an old steel mill into Atlantic Station — a live-work-play mini-city in Midtown — is the developer for the $1.5 billion project. Aerotropolis Atlanta is zoned for office space, hotels, retail, restaurants, a light industrial business park and a 4,000-space airport parking facility. Buildout is expected to take 10 years.
Finding tenants is the real challenge in a recession that has seen many developers abandon construction plans as businesses continue to shrink their workforces and demands for space. Proposals have been floated for the old General Motors plant in Doraville, and plans are being drawn for the redevelopment of Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson once those Army bases close in 2011. But few major projects are moving forward right now.
“We’re optimistic,” said Scott Condra, senior vice president of development for Jacoby. “It may take a little longer than we had hoped. But we’re optimistic because it’s a unique piece of real estate,” given its proximity to Hartsfield.

More than 90 million passengers passed through Hartsfield last year, the world’s busiest airport. Aerotropolis Atlanta will be “a direct connection” to the international terminal under construction, Condra said. The terminal will be located just across Loop Road from the Jacoby property. Plans call for shuttle service to be offered on Loop Road, so travelers can eat and shop during layovers.

The Ford plant employed more than 3,000 people. Aerotropolis is expected to add more than 10,000 jobs to Hapeville through buildout, Condra said.
Hapeville Mayor Alan Hallman says while the economy might slow the completion date, the project is moving ahead.
“I really think the reason this project is doing well when others aren’t is our proximity to the airport,” he said. “The location is a big, big selling point.”

SOURCE:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05/26/hapeville_ford_site.html

[ATL_sKyHigh]

See link for information on the new Aerotropolis Development here...

http://www.thejacobygroup.com/aerotropolis.pdf

[ATL_sKyHigh]

I have always noticed planes fly right over this location when landing. Seriously RIGHT OVER IT. Just makes me wonder who would lease "office space, hotels, retail, restaurants" with the constant barrage of jet noise overhead.
Sure you can add sound and vibration dampening, but that drives up cost, and therefore drives lease rates... And the plane are always going to be out there with screaming jet engines overhead.
Location, in this case, is a positive and negative element.

[Snakebit]

This is kinda cool...

AJC:

First Waffle House now a historic property

Friday, May 01, 2009

Wichita, Kan., can claim the first Pizza Hut. San Bernardino, Cal., is home to the first McDonald’s. And Corbin, Ky., is on the map because of Colonel Sanders and the first Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Maybe fast food history buffs will flock to the strip mall-dotted byway that connects Decatur to Avondale Estates now that the DeKalb County Commission has made it official: the derelict Waffle House there has been designated a historic property.

It’s the home of the first Waffle House, and the company wants to turn it into a museum. Commissioners approved the request Tuesday after a company representative elaborated on plans to operate the facility at 2719 E. College Ave. as a center of breakfast history. The company is restoring the building to the state it was in when it opened in 1955.

[gttx]

Originally Posted by scania

I can see myself biking from Plaza Midtown to the 14th St. bridge, biking up 14th St., all the way to the White Provision on Howell Mill...come on guys, that's insane. Who the heck would want to bike on Howell Mill? And 14th St.???

Those of us who don't own cars.
It's what, 2 miles? I actually might be able to bike it faster than I could drive it, if I could do it without fear of being run over, that is.

[sunking1056]

Originally Posted by rgreen2206

2098

Rank City Population

1 New York 25,744,855
2 Dallas 21,751,903
3 Atlanta 20,146,925

We better start laying some track

[cybele]

From the PEDS newsletter:

Safe Routes to Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park recently closed its free surface parking lot, which makes safe access to the park for pedestrians and cyclists more important than ever.

Piedmont Ave & 14th StreetAt the intersection with 14th Street, Piedmont Avenue changes from a one-way to a two-way street. To maximize the flow of cars, the signals are set so that motorists heading south on Piedmont stop at different times than those heading north. The timing is confusing, creates unreasonable delays for people on foot, and leads cyclists and pedestrians to make risky decisions. Many get trapped in the middle of the street.

Redefining "Optimal" Traffic Flow
When PEDS first brought this hazard to the attention of the City of Atlanta in 1997, engineers refused to change the signals. To them, the fact that cars were flowing constantly through the northern leg of the intersection was evidence of "optimal traffic flow."

Atlanta is changing, however, and fortunately, so is the mindset of its transportation engineers. During a site visit last week with leaders of PEDS and the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Chief Traffic Engineers Nursef Kedir and Santana Herrera witnessed many pedestrians ignore the signs and signals and "wing it" through the intersection. Numerous high-rise condo and hotel buildings loomed overhead, reminding us all of the city's increasing density. To PEDS' delight, the engineers agreed to mark the crosswalk on the northern leg of the intersection and retime the signals to provide an exclusive phase for pedestrians to cross the street.

[delarosa]

Originally Posted by gttx

Those of us who don't own cars.
It's what, 2 miles? I actually might be able to bike it faster than I could drive it, if I could do it without fear of being run over, that is.

I ride Howell Mill (midtown...not so much up around 75 and northward) regularly...it's actually an ok ride imho. 14th is a little more treacherous from midtown to the westside, but with dedicated bike lines and/or speed dampening it'd be fine for me. The distances are all bike-reasonable, though in general Atlanta isn't the most pleasant daytime cycling city in the summer due to heat+hills+air quality=a sweaty, unpleasant experience.

On a side note, for the route originally described, from Plaza I'd cut through GaTech to get to the westside...probably would opt for it over 10th or 14th even with modifications.