ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by atlwarrior

Thats a beauty, but traffic is atrocious on Howell Mill.

I believe that is the Related tower in Buckhead.

[Student]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Land Development Permit filed today for this development in Buckhead by Related Group

Also a land development permit has been filed for 1034 Howell Mill Road for a mixed use development in the old Atlanta Builders Supply location.

Is this going on peachtree road where that church is?

[Verge]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I'm of the opinion that all new buildings in the Midtown submarket should at least have one retail streetfront. At least, especially for the projected densities that Midtown will eventually have.

Zoning requires street level active use everywhere in Midtown-- whether that be retail, residential or office-- this includes parking decks.

[arctk2014]

Originally Posted by Martinman

That was the plan in 2008 but that plan is constantly being updated as realities change. In my opinion it is more important to demonstrate to developers/architects how to do the street level whether it has retail or not. Much of the new stuff in Midtown that does have retail is cold, bland and out of scale. You mentioned earlier that Atlantic Station was too cheesy, yet it is one of the few places in the city that is human-scaled and inviting at the street level.

I would take exception for 17th street.....the width of the sidewalks, no supplemental zones, etc creates an unfriendly environment for pedestrians. There's not enough landscaping/trees between the pedestrian zone/street zone and not to mention the lack of good pedestrian design across the bridge as well. There should have been considerations for trees on the bridge if you really wanted to lure people to walk across it - it's inhospitable in the summer heat otherwise.

[shivtim]

There's some drilling (soil boring?) happening right now on the site of the proposed GA Tech computing center on spring street behind the Crum and Forster building.

[BlueSangha]

Originally Posted by Student

Is this going on peachtree road where that church is?

Yes, indeed it is.

[7even6ix2wo]

Driving around today I took note of three projects. They are digging deep at the corner of Glen Iris and Ralph McGill. The lot at Simpson and Centennial Olympic is being cleared; that looked like it might have just started this morning.

Then there were some other people doing some deep digging right in the middle of Piedmont Park across from Grady HS. The man in the bright vest said it was to fix the water main. They must be digging 20ft below grade there.

One other thing I noticed. During the building cycle that wrapped up in 2009, all the hi rises around town were wrapped in that yellow GP siding. This time around, I am seeing a lot of that green USG siding going up. Did something change in the siding market?

[alco89]

Originally Posted by 7even6ix2wo

They are digging deep at the corner of Glen Iris and Ralph McGill.

Interesting. I guess they're doing underground parking there (which is great).

Originally Posted by 7even6ix2wo

One other thing I noticed. During the building cycle that wrapped up in 2009, all the hi rises around town were wrapped in that yellow GP siding. This time around, I am seeing a lot of that green USG siding going up. Did something change in the siding market?

I noticed that too starting with the O4W apartment boom. Will be interesting to hear some info on that.

[micropundit]

The mixed-use development will host Putt! Putt! Putt! at its soon to open mini-golf course. The final phase for the property will boast an 18-hole miniature golf course, a slide and boardwalk-style games.The roof is inspired by the Ponce de Leon amusement park, often referred to as the “Coney Island of the South,” originally built on the site where Ponce City Market stands today.

“The Roof will offer a nostalgic carnival experience where guests will be invited to play a round of miniature golf, test their luck at old-time boardwalk style games and take a ride down the slide, all while enjoying expansive skyline views from Buckhead to downtown Atlanta,” Jamestown announced.
https://whatnowatlanta.com/ponce-city-market-to-debut-much-anticipated-roof/

[arctk2014]

One other thing I noticed. During the building cycle that wrapped up in 2009, all the hi rises around town were wrapped in that yellow GP siding. This time around, I am seeing a lot of that green USG siding going up. Did something change in the siding market?

The yellow sheathing is Densglass from GP- a fiberglass mat gypsum sheathing- which has been an industry standard even until today.

The green sheathing is a newish product called ZipSystem - an engineered wood sheathing product that "eliminates" the need for an additional air and/or vapor barrier- you just have to tape the joints with a mostly proprietary. Though it's performances have been debatable- particularly around windows and exposed edges at corners and such. It has a higher product cost but lower labor cost.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2016/03/dewberry-to-add-retail-office-to-midtowns.html

New renders of Dew-nothings Campanile expansion plans:

[cokezero]

While on the topic of the mid 2000s building boom versus the current one, another thing I've noticed and wondered about is the burying of power lines in Midtown. The buildings from the prior cycle (Metropolis, Spire, Plaza Midtown, 1010 Midtown, 1065 Peachtree, etc.) all buried their power lines during construction. Alternatively, all the new Midtown buildings in this current cycle (both Skyhouses, 77th 12th, 131 Ponce, University House, etc.) have all opted not to bury their power lines.

The question(s) I have are - was the burying of power lines previously mandatory in Midtown and this requirement was removed during the recession or did all of the developers during the prior cycle do this voluntarily? If it was once a requirement that has since been removed, how do we get that requirement added back to the zoning and/or development codes? Alternatively, if burying power lines was and is still mandatory, are developers using zoning variances to get around this requirement?

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by cokezero

While on the topic of the mid 2000s building boom versus the current one, another thing I've noticed and wondered about is the burying of power lines in Midtown. The buildings from the prior cycle (Metropolis, Spire, Plaza Midtown, 1010 Midtown, 1065 Peachtree, etc.) all buried their power lines during construction. Alternatively, all the new Midtown buildings in this current cycle (both Skyhouses, 77th 12th, 131 Ponce, University House, etc.) have all opted not to bury their power lines.

The question(s) I have are - was the burying of power lines previously mandatory in Midtown and this requirement was removed during the recession or did all of the developers during the prior cycle do this voluntarily? If it was once a requirement that has since been removed, how do we get that requirement added back to the zoning and/or development codes? Alternatively, if burying power lines was and is still mandatory, are developers using zoning variances to get around this requirement?

No, it has NEVER been mandatory. Doing so would be unconstituntional because the developer doesn't actually own the lines - they are owned by third party utilities.

[cokezero]

Originally Posted by Terminus

No, it has NEVER been mandatory. Doing so would be unconstituntional because the developer doesn't actually own the lines - they are owned by third party utilities.

So, were all those developers who buried their power lines in the mid 2000s incentivized in some way to bury their lines, either through some form of cost-sharing agreement with the City or the Midtown Alliance or maybe even through leniency on other costly design or zoning requirements in exchange for burying the lines? It just seems too coincidental for there not to have been some form of incentive that every developer in Midtown in the mid 2000s buried their power lines and now no developers are burying their power lines.

[cokezero]

And while off topic and before all my posts get deleted, does anyone know how the City determines which parcels/projects in Midtown require pedestrian lights? This question comes to mind because along North Avenue, Ivy Hall Apartments, built in the mid 2000s, installed pedestrian lights along North, but 131 Ponce, built in 2014, did not install pedestrian lights along North. 131 Ponce and Ivy Hall are directly adjacent to each other, so it just seems odd that one has the pedestrian lights and the other does not.

[ATLmangum]

Glad they are removing the pedestrian bridge on the Campanell project

[RocketSurgeon]

Originally Posted by cokezero

And while off topic and before all my posts get deleted, does anyone know how the City determines which parcels/projects in Midtown require pedestrian lights? This question comes to mind because along North Avenue, Ivy Hall Apartments, built in the mid 2000s, installed pedestrian lights along North, but 131 Ponce, built in 2014, did not install pedestrian lights along North. 131 Ponce and Ivy Hall are directly adjacent to each other, so it just seems odd that one has the pedestrian lights and the other does not.

Each street has its own regulations. Pedestrian lights probably aren't required on North Avenue, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're not allowed at all. I think one of those developers just did as little as possible.

[A-town]

Originally Posted by cokezero

While on the topic of the mid 2000s building boom versus the current one, another thing I've noticed and wondered about is the burying of power lines in Midtown. The buildings from the prior cycle (Metropolis, Spire, Plaza Midtown, 1010 Midtown, 1065 Peachtree, etc.) all buried their power lines during construction. Alternatively, all the new Midtown buildings in this current cycle (both Skyhouses, 77th 12th, 131 Ponce, University House, etc.) have all opted not to bury their power lines.

The question(s) I have are - was the burying of power lines previously mandatory in Midtown and this requirement was removed during the recession or did all of the developers during the prior cycle do this voluntarily? If it was once a requirement that has since been removed, how do we get that requirement added back to the zoning and/or development codes? Alternatively, if burying power lines was and is still mandatory, are developers using zoning variances to get around this requirement?

All those developments except Plaza Midtown are located on Peachtree in Midtown, thus on the Midtown Mile. That vision included streetscape improvements. Which usually includes burying power lines. But the newer developments aren't on Peachtree. So maybe that has something to do with it.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by cokezero

While on the topic of the mid 2000s building boom versus the current one, another thing I've noticed and wondered about is the burying of power lines in Midtown. The buildings from the prior cycle (Metropolis, Spire, Plaza Midtown, 1010 Midtown, 1065 Peachtree, etc.) all buried their power lines during construction. Alternatively, all the new Midtown buildings in this current cycle (both Skyhouses, 77th 12th, 131 Ponce, University House, etc.) have all opted not to bury their power lines.

The question(s) I have are - was the burying of power lines previously mandatory in Midtown and this requirement was removed during the recession or did all of the developers during the prior cycle do this voluntarily? If it was once a requirement that has since been removed, how do we get that requirement added back to the zoning and/or development codes? Alternatively, if burying power lines was and is still mandatory, are developers using zoning variances to get around this requirement?

Originally Posted by A-town

All those developments except Plaza Midtown are located on Peachtree in Midtown, thus on the Midtown Mile. That vision included streetscape improvements. Which usually includes burying power lines. But the newer developments aren't on Peachtree. So maybe that has something to do with it.

Yep, what A-town said. I feel like I remember the Midtown Alliance (MID) starting their streetscape improvements on Peachtree, logically. Those improvements have nothing to do with the developers and are still ongoing throughout Midtown today:

http://www.midtownatl.com/about/programs-and-projects/capital-improvements

http://www.midtownatl.com/_files/docs/capital-improvements-map.pdf

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2016/03/dewberry-to-add-retail-office-to-midtowns.html

New renders of Dew-nothings Campanile expansion plans:

As much as I enjoy high-rise developments, these low rise developments would be huge for this part of town if the restaurants and boutiques are open more than the M-F regular business hours.