ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by hokiehigh

I wish the Streets of Buckhead development would have been in Midtown. That would really kickstart the movement to become another Mag Mile. I don't see how Midtown can pull it off now since Buckhead seems like the place to be for shopping.

In the city of Chicago, you have the Mag Mile and the North/Clyborne shopping area but all other large concentrations of national chains are in the burbs.

Why does everyone talk about midtown like it got some bad end of the stick? Midtown got Atlantic Station and fake bricks aside at the time it started was the largest reclamation project in the country. At the time Atlantic Station opened barely 1/3 had been built out. Not to mention the fact that real brick would have added several tons of weight on a 3 story 6,000 space parking structure that the entire project was built on top of. The architecture can look a little cheap and hokey but cost had to be saved somewhere after the contractor had to spend millions cleaning up the toxic mess left by the steel mill.

Midtown got a massive High Museum of Art expansion and Midtown will be the home of a grand Symphony Hall. The location of the hall keeps moving but it will still be built.

Midtown will be home to a fabulously expanded Piedmont Park, multiple stops on the future Beltline, the proposed trolley line is set to go the full length of the Midtown Mile and currently offers 3 Marta rail stations. All of the sewer lines are being replaced; the streets and intersections are all getting redone.

Keep in mind Midtown is massive extending from North Ave. – Deering Rd. and from Northside Dr. – Monroe Dr. I’m sorry but a lot of these areas were seriously distressed just five years ago and today are turning into vibrant communities. Just because it doesn’t have the glitz and glimmer of a St. Regis doesn’t mean that Midtown isn’t working to pull itself up from its bootstraps.

Midtown has it’s own glamour… it’s different from Buckhead … and I like it.

[sevensixtwo]

And SOB is a failure if the original concept is any measure!

[joecool]

Originally Posted by STrek777

Why does everyone talk about midtown like it got some bad end of the stick? Midtown got Atlantic Station and fake bricks aside at the time it started was the largest reclamation project in the country. At the time Atlantic Station opened barely 1/3 had been built out. Not to mention the fact that real brick would have added several tons of weight on a 3 story 6,000 space parking structure that the entire project was built on top of. The architecture can look a little cheap and hokey but cost had to be saved somewhere after the contractor had to spend millions cleaning up the toxic mess left by the steel mill.

Midtown got a massive High Museum of Art expansion and Midtown will be the home of a grand Symphony Hall. The location of the hall keeps moving but it will still be built.

Midtown will be home to a fabulously expanded Piedmont Park, multiple stops on the future Beltline, the proposed trolley line is set to go the full length of the Midtown Mile and currently offers 3 Marta rail stations. All of the sewer lines are being replaced; the streets and intersections are all getting redone.

Keep in mind Midtown is massive extending from North Ave. – Deering Rd. and from Northside Dr. – Monroe Dr. I’m sorry but a lot of these areas were seriously distressed just five years ago and today are turning into vibrant communities. Just because it doesn’t have the glitz and glimmer of a St. Regis doesn’t mean that Midtown isn’t working to pull itself up from its bootstraps.

Midtown has it’s own glamour… it’s different from Buckhead … and I like it.

I understand both sides. I hate and love Buckhead at the same time. The only thing I kinda wish is that some of these developments I think would have worked better in Midtown/Downtown because there are still so many empty parking lots that sooooo need to be filled. I want the Midtown/Downtown to be urban and walkable as Buckhead is just Buckhead. I would have loved to see St Regis in the Midtown skyline. Terminus would have been hot in the mix also. More buildings in the city!

[jew4life4948]

Originally Posted by sevensixtwo

Who would invest in Detroit at this point?

Are you kidding me.
Quality bungalows for $1, not to mention the possibility of converting abandoned lots into small urban farm plots.

I'm in Chicago now, and even though my rent is low and I live in a "hip" neighborhood (Wicker Park anyone?) the prospect of a migration consisting of my friends and I up to Detroit to start over in an urban area with the infrastructure but no inhabitants seems all too tempting.

[jew4life4948]

Originally Posted by galaca

I guess it's different from the proposed redevelopment from a couple years ago?:
222 Mitchell St <<< I think that one was from Emory Morsberger .

Speaking of Emory, any word yet on Ponce Park.

That project still fascinates me.

http://www.poncepark.com/

[joecool]

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

Speaking of Emory, any word yet on Ponce Park.

That project still fascinates me.

http://www.poncepark.com/

Yeah what happened with this? I love the rendering tho I think (people always yell at me for this) all those trees are OVERKILL! I like trees but DAMN!

[alleystreetindustry]

either development for the building would be great. if i were a developer with money to dump, id be cashing in on the "railroad district".

there are too many spots in the city that simply, dont receive the attention they deserve. enough with the new development where we dont need it. lets start with what we have and move in.

and i second your thought on detroit, jesse.

[Pompuss]

Great link. I hadn't seen this yet.

[ATLaffinity]

ponce park seems to be on hold. a lot of that was going to be housing and there's just not the demand.

i hope to see the Old Fourth Ward Park come through. that will completely change the feel of that area behind the Sears building.

[cybele]

Originally Posted by STrek777

Just because it doesn’t have the glitz and glimmer of a St. Regis doesn’t mean that Midtown isn’t working to pull itself up from its bootstraps.

Midtown has it’s own glamour… it’s different from Buckhead … and I like it.

I have to agree -- the city's development is not a zero sum game. Atlanta clearly has a linear core that runs from Downtown up to the Lenox/Phipps area, and it all seems to be urbanizing nicely.

[gttx]

Originally Posted by ATLaffinity

ponce park seems to be on hold. a lot of that was going to be housing and there's just not the demand.

i hope to see the Old Fourth Ward Park come through. that will completely change the feel of that area behind the Sears building.

I think they were originally waiting on the city to move its offices out of the building - which still hasn't actually happened. Not sure what the holdup is/was.

[ajdelo]

Originally Posted by gttx

I think they were originally waiting on the city to move its offices out of the building - which still hasn't actually happened. Not sure what the holdup is/was.

Would any of the delay have to do with the development of the Beltline? I believe the current City Hall East will be a stop along the route -> http://beltline.org/Portals/26/maps/Tour/blp_map_northeast_final.pdf

[ATLaffinity]

Originally Posted by ajdelo

Would any of the delay have to do with the development of the Beltline? I believe the current City Hall East will be a stop along the route -> http://beltline.org/Portals/26/maps/Tour/blp_map_northeast_final.pdf

no, the city wants out. they can't keep the place up. morsberger is trading them this building for a building downtown.

some of the units are to be for disabled people. the building connects to the railroad. so it would allow somebody in a wheelchair to easily access the beltline. to give you an idea of how solid that building is, train cars were brought *onto* upper floors.

i took a tour of the building with morsberger. it's a massive, spooky place. they should film a horror movie in there before it's renovated.

[boomtown]

Did anyone else see this from Men's Journal?....good press for 4th Ward...

http://www.mensjournal.com/best-nabes-southeast

The Best Neighborhoods in America
Inner City Mash-Up, Revived

OLD FOURTH WARD/ ATLANTA, GA

Think downtown Atlanta is tall, sleek, and shiny? Not where I live. The Old Fourth Ward, right next to downtown, is none of those, and history is why. Ever since the ‘96 Olympics brought throngs back to the city center, the old “intown” neighborhoods filled in with condo towers, and 90-year-old bungalows were remodeled and sold for twice the price. The Old Fourth Ward, on the other hand, is a neighborhood whose identity, people, and architecture are too jumbled for it to ever become trendy.
During segregation, it was both industrial and residential. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up and preached here, and families have occupied the same shotgun houses for generations. But there’s also industry here — a commercial laundry, a welding shop, a heavy equipment yard – which gives it a look of mild clutter and commotion. There’s even a southern food spot with a Japanese sensibility.
And well after the last of the dirt and funk is cleaned up, if it ever is, we’ll still have our edge. If the industry gets pushed out, the huge variety of housing types and sizes means there will always be different kinds of households. There may not be much new paint, but there’s plenty of promising energy.

[sabino86]

Originally Posted by ATLaffinity

no, the city wants out. they can't keep the place up. morsberger is trading them this building for a building downtown.

Which building?

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by sabino86

Which building?

There is no building. This never was put in the final deal. Morseberger had wanted to include 222 Mitchell in the deal, but as we saw above, he no longer owns it.

[jew4life4948]

Originally Posted by Terminus

There is no building. This never was put in the final deal. Morseberger had wanted to include 222 Mitchell in the deal, but as we saw above, he no longer owns it.

Yeah, the City built a new 911 Call Center/Police Dept, only it ran into trouble [gasp!] with it.

From an AJC Article [March 24th, 2009]
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/03/24/atlanta_city_hall_east.html

"The departments wanted to be out of the 2-million-square-foot City Hall East by the end of 2008. Then they hoped for this July. Now they’re saying September.".............................

The moving contract isn’t the only City Hall East concern of some council members. Developer Emory Morsberger has agreed to buy the building from the city for $26 million. However, some council members wonder whether the deal will be consummated, considering how tough obtaining a bank loan is these days.

“I wish Emory Morsberger all the luck in the world because [getting financing] is very difficult, even with the best of credit,” said Council President Lisa Borders.

Not to worry, says Morsberger, who plans to transform the old building into condos, offices, restaurants, shops, theaters and art space..........

The departments will move into their new public safety headquarters, located in downtown Atlanta on Garnett Street between the city’s jail and courthouse. Police Lt. Jeffery Glazier, who is in charge of the department’s move, said some work is necessary in the new building, such as connecting the telephone system."

[sevensixtwo]

Originally Posted by jew4life4948

my friends and I up to Detroit to start over in an urban area with the infrastructure but no inhabitants seems all too tempting.

How are the municipalities going to be able to maintain the infrastructure without inhabitants? That is really expensive. Now they dont have property tax or income tax revenues since the real estate is next to worthless and the mean income is so low. I think at this point food stamps and welfare are the driving factors in Detroit's economy. Im not sure there's a way to effectively tax that kind of operation. My mid- to long-term prognosis for Detroit is 'abandoned wasteland.'

[detmsp]

Originally Posted by sevensixtwo

How are the municipalities going to be able to maintain the infrastructure without inhabitants? That is really expensive. Now they dont have property tax or income tax revenues since the real estate is next to worthless and the mean income is so low. I think at this point food stamps and welfare are the driving factors in Detroit's economy. Im not sure there's a way to effectively tax that kind of operation. My mid- to long-term prognosis for Detroit is 'abandoned wasteland.'

yeah all 5 million people in the detroit area are on food stamps. it's pretty much abandoned.... except the 5 million people.

[LouisianaCharm]

Originally Posted by detmsp

yeah all 5 million people in the detroit area are on food stamps. it's pretty much abandoned.... except the 5 million people.

We should trade Michigan for Lower Ontario................