ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[arctk2014]

Meanwhile in Glenwood Park/ Grant Park..... BLAH

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/...are-proceeding-in-grant-park-decatur.php

[NewUrbanist90]

Originally Posted by arctk2014

Meanwhile in Glenwood Park/ Grant Park..... BLAH

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/...are-proceeding-in-grant-park-decatur.php

Petition to start a GoFundMe / Kickstarter to buy whatever house is across the street from Fuqua's home and turn it into an anti-Fuqua monument (think the rainbow house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church).

[jpk1292000]

Originally Posted by arctk2014

Meanwhile in Glenwood Park/ Grant Park..... BLAH

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/...are-proceeding-in-grant-park-decatur.php

Awful. This belongs in Cherokee county. What is the big box store slated to be? Walmart?

[Pemgin]

^Kroger Marketplace

[NewUrbanist90]

Question: does anyone know how the Beltline will live on the sections that are intended to align with city streets (Memorial, Bill Kennedy, Edgewood, Grant St, Lee St, Marietta Blvd, Piedmont)?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by arctk2014

Meanwhile in Glenwood Park/ Grant Park..... BLAH

http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/...are-proceeding-in-grant-park-decatur.php

I have often wondered what is the driver for these ultra low density big box projects. Is it simply because they are inexpensive/easy to build, or are there other reasons?

Seems to me that if you are paying big bucks for a piece of land you'd want to develop it as densely as is feasible.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Alta at the Park is leaning more towards condo project: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print...015-may-see-the-return-of-the-condo.html

In comments someone living near where the building is going got notice they will need to move out soon.

[L.ARCH]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist90

Question: does anyone know how the Beltline will live on the sections that are intended to align with city streets (Memorial, Bill Kennedy, Edgewood, Grant St, Lee St, Marietta Blvd, Piedmont)?

The "Trail" will run along side the street like a big sidewalk and the train will be in the street just like the Streetcar is now.

[Verge]

Originally Posted by jpk1292000

Awful. This belongs in Cherokee county. What is the big box store slated to be? Walmart?

The short-fingered Boy-Man strikes again...

[cabasse]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist90

Petition to start a GoFundMe / Kickstarter to buy whatever house is across the street from Fuqua's home and turn it into an anti-Fuqua monument (think the rainbow house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church).

seriously. pave the entire yard and put in a parking lot

[ATL_J]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I have often wondered what is the driver for these ultra low density big box projects. Is it simply because they are inexpensive/easy to build, or are there other reasons?

Seems to me that if you are paying big bucks for a piece of land you'd want to develop it as densely as is feasible.

From what I have read/heard (I'm not a developer, an underwriter, or work with a big box store), but it comes down to familiarity and ease of work on all ends.

It's easy for banks to underwrite formulaic complexes, because they have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of easily commodifiable comparables with easily to understand metrics. For example, they know the square feet, they know how many parking spaces they want / need, they know the population around the site, the household income, future population growth, etc. Its easy to look at those and say, yea, this is a safe investment. When you add things that don't have a lot of comparables - a bigger store, a smaller store, a two story store, a store that also has retail in it, lofts above it, or a parking deck that is more expensive than surface parking (or how will customers respond?!) banks don't want to have to spend time thinking about these things.

Secondly, the above holds true for the tenant too. Kroger / Walmart whomever wants what they are comfortable with. They use the developer to jam these developments in, because it's what they're most comfortable with. It's "scary" to try something that "might not work". Regardless of the demand and how well everyone else will know it would work.

So then you have Fuqua who has a relationship with a lot of these big box retailers. They know he can "get it done" and shoe horn these developments into urban locations. There is a huge demand for these businesses (although people would prefer more urban development), Fuqua knows this, they know it, but they want to do what they're comfortable with. So Fuqua wants to get easy, cheap financing (little risk, very formulaic) and wants to appease his tenant.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by ATL_J

From what I have read/heard (I'm not a developer, an underwriter, or work with a big box store), but it comes down to familiarity and ease of work on all ends.

It's easy for banks to underwrite formulaic complexes, because they have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of easily commodifiable comparables with easily to understand metrics. For example, they know the square feet, they know how many parking spaces they want / need, they know the population around the site, the household income, future population growth, etc. Its easy to look at those and say, yea, this is a safe investment. When you add things that don't have a lot of comparables - a bigger store, a smaller store, a two story store, a store that also has retail in it, lofts above it, or a parking deck that is more expensive than surface parking (or how will customers respond?!) banks don't want to have to spend time thinking about these things.

Secondly, the above holds true for the tenant too. Kroger / Walmart whomever wants what they are comfortable with. They use the developer to jam these developments in, because it's what they're most comfortable with. It's "scary" to try something that "might not work". Regardless of the demand and how well everyone else will know it would work.

So then you have Fuqua who has a relationship with a lot of these big box retailers. They know he can "get it done" and shoe horn these developments into urban locations. There is a huge demand for these businesses (although people would prefer more urban development), Fuqua knows this, they know it, but they want to do what they're comfortable with. So Fuqua wants to get easy, cheap financing (little risk, very formulaic) and wants to appease his tenant.

Thanks, ATL_J. That sounds about right.

My guess is that in some corporate cultures there is a fear of rocking the boat. As in, "We have built this exact store 800 times in the past and it worked okay before so I'm not going to be the one who gets blamed for doing something different."

Sometimes it seems like trying to make the city a little more urban is like Sisyphus pushing his stone up the hill.

[ATL_J]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Thanks, ATL_J. That sounds about right.

My guess is that in some corporate cultures there is also a fear of rocking the boat. As in, "We have built this exact store 800 times in the past and it worked okay before so I'm not going to be the one who gets blamed for doing something different."

Sometimes it seems like trying to make the city a little more urban is like Sisyphus pushing his stone up the hill.

I just think it's insane that people don't just spend a little bit more time for a much greater reward. I think you can easily look at the population growth, current and changing demographics, and a lack of a grocery store for the area and easily see that any sort of store would be a huge success. A bank should be able to see that, a developer, and a grocer.

Its like condos now. People are hesitant to build condos, despite high rental rates and high demand, because banks aren't lending on those projects because they're worried about future tenants having the ability to get loans, from the banks, because those banks are worried about loaning for condos. Even though homes and condos all took hits, nothing inherently wrong with condos.

Whatever bank decides to sack up and start lending on this first couple of condo projects are going to make a killing.

[cokezero]

Originally Posted by Pemgin

^Kroger Marketplace

That must be an outdated rendering then. The building in the rendering is a variation of Walmart's current supercenter prototype.



(Source: Walmart.com)

[trainiac]

Originally Posted by cokezero

Just look at that sweet 1982 Cadillac! My kind of place

[jpk1292000]

Originally Posted by cokezero

That must be an outdated rendering then. The building in the rendering is a variation of Walmart's current supercenter prototype.



(Source: Walmart.com)

I sure hope it's not a Walmart.

[RocketSurgeon]

The old building at 1545 Northside Drive is being demolished. I'm not sure what the plan is but it's on the corner of a pretty large tract of vacant land. If it's all one owner there might be something big on the way.

[bryantm3]

guys, let's drop the fuqua stuff; it's getting depressing. at this point it's obviously going to happen, and commiserating over it isn't going to change anything. besides, there is a lot of cool stuff that is going up that we can focus on instead.

on another note, does anyone know what is going on at grady hospital? they have been excavating the parking lot facing the connector for months now.

[bigstick]

What is being built right behind Houston's on Peachtree? Thanks

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Originally Posted by bigstick

What is being built right behind Houston's on Peachtree? Thanks

http://www.jmwilkerson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Brookwood-Square-Apts.pdf