ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[ATLcubs]

Speaking of Marta proximity in Buckhead, has there been any news as of late on the Tower Place project across 400 from Three Alliance Center?

[BlueSangha]

Originally Posted by pica

It warms my heart to see a project in Buckhead putting so much emphasis on its proximity to MARTA.

There might be proximity to MARTA, but no connection as of yet.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by pica

It warms my heart to see a project in Buckhead putting so much emphasis on its proximity to MARTA.

Yep, that has long been one of their key selling points.

However, when we had a business there it was still hard to get people to take the train in, even with free passes. I never understood it -- folks would drive right by a dozen stations. Whether that's common in other cities or is just an Atlanta thing I don't know.

[Atlanta3000]

Originally Posted by ATLcubs

Speaking of Marta proximity in Buckhead, has there been any news as of late on the Tower Place project across 400 from Three Alliance Center?

This should definitely be breaking ground soon. Regent Partners, the developer of Tower Place, just recently sold the Concourse Towers in the Perimeter for a hefty $177 Million profit. They have the capital to move forward and demand for office space is high in Buckhead. Last I heard they said the project would start the second half of 2015.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print...e-of-concourse-shows-surging-office.html

[Sketching]

Here's a minor contruction update for a couple of Midtown projects. I shot these Sunday after the Fox Theatre anniversary block party.

Condos next to Viewpoint from a 7th Street perspective.


Student dorms on Spring

Peachtree Place and Spring Street perspective.


Peachtree Place and Williams Street perspective.


8th Street perspective.

[jnihiser]

Hyatt House Downtown:


Walgreens Renovation:


New Elan project across from Edgewood Retail District:

[SFB]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Yep, that has long been one of their key selling points.

However, when we had a business there it was still hard to get people to take the train in, even with free passes. I never understood it -- folks would drive right by a dozen stations. Whether that's common in other cities or is just an Atlanta thing I don't know.

Yeah, it is ridiculous. I work in tower place and my company has a green initiative to where if you take an alternative form of transportation, they will pay for it. Still, in my office of around 60 people, only about 3 or so take Marta on a daily basis. #MartaSmarta

[NewUrbanist90]

Originally Posted by jnihiser

Hyatt House Downtown:

Speaking of this, I am not surprised, but am disappointed, that the rest of the lot behind the lot is being paved off for surface parking. The fact that this is being allowed to happen still downtown is really unfortunate.

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist90

Speaking of this, I am not surprised, but am disappointed, that the rest of the lot behind the lot is being paved off for surface parking. The fact that this is being allowed to happen still downtown is really unfortunate.

I sit on the Downtown DRC.

You're correct that parking is not allowed between the building and the street in SPI 1, but the lot in question (the one that fronts Luckie Street) is not part of the project. It is actually a building site for a separate hotel or residential deal.

[NewUrbanist90]

Originally Posted by Terminus

I sit on the Downtown DRC.

You're correct that parking is not allowed between the building and the street in SPI 1, but the lot in question (the one that fronts Luckie Street) is not part of the project. It is actually a building site for a separate hotel or residential deal.

Thanks for this info! Would love more clarification on the relationship between the two on this because the projects seem pretty heavily intertwined, and I would have to wonder what incentive there would be to develop that lot anytime soon if it's going to be the only accessible parking for that hotel (since there's no deck)? Are there immediate plans for building, or is it a long-term hope? Does the same holding corporation own both the parking lot and the hotel?

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by NewUrbanist90

Thanks for this info! Would love more clarification on the relationship between the two on this because the projects seem pretty heavily intertwined, and I would have to wonder what incentive there would be to develop that lot anytime soon if it's going to be the only accessible parking for that hotel (since there's no deck)? Are there immediate plans for building, or is it a long-term hope? Does the same holding corporation own both the parking lot and the hotel?

If I'm not mistaken they are two separate lots with different owners. I think that the one on the east is owned by the City of Atlanta.

[Curious Atlantan]

Hi,
If you are on the Downtown DRC, do you happen to know if the Integral Auburn Apartments building on the corner of Auburn Ave and Piedmont next to the Atlanta Daily World building is still on the table?

thanks!

Originally Posted by Terminus

I sit on the Downtown DRC.

You're correct that parking is not allowed between the building and the street in SPI 1, but the lot in question (the one that fronts Luckie Street) is not part of the project. It is actually a building site for a separate hotel or residential deal.

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by Curious Atlantan

Hi,
If you are on the Downtown DRC, do you happen to know if the Integral Auburn Apartments building on the corner of Auburn Ave and Piedmont next to the Atlanta Daily World building is still on the table?

thanks!

Would be nice if this was built.

[micropundit]

The $260 million headquarters for NCR, the software company that is moving from Duluth to the Georgia Tech area, is the first step in a grander plan to create a “Silicon Valley of the East,” CEO Bill Nuti said Monday.


In an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nuti said creating a hub for about 4,000 technology workers in Atlanta is a “bold, ambitious” move, but that he is committed to ways to help keep more graduates — and their high-paying jobs — local. Nuti said about half of Georgia Tech’s engineering graduates leave the state for jobs in northern California, Boston, Austin, Seattle and elsewhere.Within five years, he expects another major tech company to put its headquarters in Midtown. Nuti also said he is “actively advocating” with other CEOs for the establishment of nearby innovation labs.
“We think we can convince other companies in technology to join us,” he said.

NCR’s own offices will have the high-tech feel of headquarters like Google, Nuti said. He said the company wants to build its new campus with a storefront setting with glass walls where Tech students passing by can see engineers at work.

“We want students to say, ‘I want to work there,’” Nuti said. “Our campus will be a recruitment engine.”
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/ncr-chief-hopes-for-silicon-valley-of-the-east-nex/nmYYR/
(behind paywall)

[Ant131531]

Love NCR's ambitions. I do think Atlanta can become a big Tech hub and still surprised it hasn't became one considering it has Georgia Tech. Hopefully, we can see some renderings of the project sometime in the next few months. Praying it has retail and a grand urban feel.

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by Curious Atlantan

Hi,
If you are on the Downtown DRC, do you happen to know if the Integral Auburn Apartments building on the corner of Auburn Ave and Piedmont next to the Atlanta Daily World building is still on the table?

thanks!

I have no idea. We don't review in the King Historic District. That all goes to the Urban Drsign Commission. GSU, like Tech in Midtown, is also exempt from local zoning as a State of Georgia institution.

[PremierAtlanta]

Originally Posted by micropundit

The $260 million headquarters for NCR, the software company that is moving from Duluth to the Georgia Tech area, is the first step in a grander plan to create a “Silicon Valley of the East,” CEO Bill Nuti said Monday.


In an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nuti said creating a hub for about 4,000 technology workers in Atlanta is a “bold, ambitious” move, but that he is committed to ways to help keep more graduates — and their high-paying jobs — local. Nuti said about half of Georgia Tech’s engineering graduates leave the state for jobs in northern California, Boston, Austin, Seattle and elsewhere.Within five years, he expects another major tech company to put its headquarters in Midtown. Nuti also said he is “actively advocating” with other CEOs for the establishment of nearby innovation labs.
“We think we can convince other companies in technology to join us,” he said.

NCR’s own offices will have the high-tech feel of headquarters like Google, Nuti said. He said the company wants to build its new campus with a storefront setting with glass walls where Tech students passing by can see engineers at work.

“We want students to say, ‘I want to work there,’” Nuti said. “Our campus will be a recruitment engine.”
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/ncr-chief-hopes-for-silicon-valley-of-the-east-nex/nmYYR/
(behind paywall)

More than any skyscraper announcement, this is the type of news that I LOVE to hear. This story warms my heart. ITP Atlanta is in the midst of a true renaissance. Not only is there a residential boom but there is also a healthy employment boom as well.

What I like about the growth of Tech Square is that it has been organic. The city didn't set aside acreage and give tax incentives to force tech companies to locate there. The growth has been based on synergy. Having GA Tech in Midtown is so beneficial. I look forward to more tech companies moving to Midtown. My hats off to CEO Nutti for being bullish on Midtown and its burgeoning tech industry. NCR is turning out to be a very beneficial corporate citizen.

[micropundit]

The mix of apartments, senior housing, stores, and a hotel will mark the largest investment along Buford Highway in decades, developers say. They named the project Nexus, a nod to the massive redevelopment of the nearby former Doraville General Motors plant.A development team including Stephen Macauley of Macauley Investments and Macauley + Schmit plans to add 504 multifamily and senior living units, a 140-room hotel, and almost 44,600 square feet of retail on 13 acres at Buford Highway and Interstate 285.The developers have named the project Nexus, a nod to the massive redevelopment of the nearby former Doraville General Motors plant.This kind of project, with market rate housing and an upscale vision for Buford Highway — that hasn’t happened in more than a generation,” said Luke Howe, Doraville’s economic development director. “It’s going to have a transformative, halo-like effect on the area.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_...-schmit-plans-150-million-doraville.html

[arctk2014]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_...town-organic-foods-market-aka-whole.html

Whole Foods Market Inc. wants to put a flagship store next to a planned Midtown residential tower, a 72,000-square-foot location that might include a brew pub and cooking school.
Plans for the organic grocery store were unveiled June 9 to Midtown Development Review Committee. Architect Rob French, with Phillips Partnership, presented renderings of the project, which would stand next to a proposed residential tower at 14th and West Peachtree streets. Miami-based The Related Group is the developer.

Related executives appeared before the Development Review Committee with Phillips Partnership, a firm that has designed seven Whole Foods (NADAQ: WFM) stores, including locations in Sandy Springs and Savannah.

The new Midtown store could be more oriented toward dense, urban environments. Midtown is the city's most walkable commercial district and home to several of its tallest buildings including One Atlantic Center and Bank of America Plaza.
“We’ve asked them to go a little outside their comfort zone,” French said of the tenant, referring to the design of the project.
Among the features proposed are a roughly 5,000-square-foot pub and 4,000-square-foot cooking school. Delivery service Insta-Cart could operate out of the store, according to plans. The design would also incorporate green walls and outdoor dining.
Apparently, Whole Foods is sensitive about any reference to its proposed Midtown location. Several times the tenant’s name was presented simply as “Organic Foods Market” to the DRC board. Ed Allen, with The Related Group, never mentioned Whole Foods by name, but he did say a lease with a tenant was in place. Even so, it's a poorly kept secret. The name “Whole Foods” slipped several times during the architects’ presentation. In March, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the Austin, Texas-based grocery chain was in talks for the project.

The store could break ground in by mid-2016, with a projected early 2018 opening, Allen said after the meeting.


Development Review Committee members asked Related Group to consider adding a rooftop garden or terrace to the store and to tweak the design to be more engaging for pedestrians.

[micropundit]