ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[briantech]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

Peachtree Streetcar project faces stiff competition for grant

Good. Hope it continues.

[BlindFatSnake]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

Peachtree Streetcar project faces stiff competition for grant

Mayor Reid is the chairman of Conference of Mayor (Transportation Committee)... That should be good for something... Besides, Atlanta has finally got the 20/80 financial funding right to support a streetcar.

I'm betting on Reid bringing the money home to Atlanta. Otherwise, why the hell be the chairman if you can't bring some CASH back to your home city???

[ChicagoChicago]

Originally Posted by BlindFatSnake

Mayor Reid is the chairman of Conference of Mayor (Transportation Committee)... That should be good for something... Besides, Atlanta has finally got the 20/80 financial funding right to support a streetcar.

I'm betting on Reid bringing the money home to Atlanta. Otherwise, why the hell be the chairman if you can't bring some CASH back to your home city???

Well, that concept certainly hasn't worked in Chicago. LaHood hasn't done shit for Chicagoland yet.

I would guess it's more just a statement that Atlanta (Georgia more than ATL) isn't anti-mass transit, which it has had a history of being.

[ajdelo]

Originally Posted by ChicagoChicago

Well, that concept certainly hasn't worked in Chicago. LaHood hasn't done shit for Chicagoland yet.

I would guess it's more just a statement that Atlanta (Georgia more than ATL) isn't anti-mass transit, which it has had a history of being.

At least it seems that city officials, local businesses, and many in the community at least agree that something must be done other than building more roads and redirecting traffic. Between this, the multi-modal station, and continual development on the Beltline, the entire city of Atlanta, as well as connecting cities such as Macon, Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Charlotte could all look substantially different from a transit perspective in the next decade.

I'm all for it and ALL of these projects have my 100% support, even financially (I live in Stone Mountain).

[cactuspunk]

Friday, October 15, 2010
Tivoli revives plan for new Midtown hotel
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Lisa R. Schoolcraft and Douglas Sams Staff Writers


Read more: Tivoli revives plan for new Midtown hotel - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Developer Tivoli Properties Inc. is working to resurrect its 1138 Peachtree project in Midtown, once the proposed site of a ritzy Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Tivoli Properties President Scott Leventhal confirmed to Atlanta Business Chronicle Oct. 13 his company continues to pursue developing the property.

“Quit is not in my vocabulary,” Leventhal said. “We don’t have anything to announce yet, but we continue to work hard to see it come to fruition.”

Representatives of Tivoli Properties, including an attorney with Seyfarth Shaw LLP, met with the Development Authority of Fulton County Aug. 31 to ask for $115 million in bond financing. The bonds would essentially offer a long-term tax abatement on the project. The mixed-use development would include a hotel and stores.

The Development Authority granted a letter of inducement for the bonds. Generally, projects that come before the authority and receive a vote of confidence have a bona fide chance to move forward, local bond attorneys said.

Tivoli has additional equity to support the project, Leventhal confirmed . He would not comment on his equity partners, but said he believes the capital markets are improving enough that the project has a true second chance.

“There is a significant amount of capital that is finding its way back into the real estate industry,” he said. “The capital is not looking for development projects at this time but it’s only natural that the capital sources will lose patience with distressed [property acquisition] opportunities. And, when they do, development will reignite.”

The project faces huge obstacles, including the uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery, an already competitive landscape for luxury hotels in Midtown that includes the well-established Four Seasons on 14th Street, and a lack of confidence among investors that a sustained commercial real estate rebound is under way.

Tivoli does not have a hotel operator in mind, Leventhal said.

Any hotel project “is not for the meek and mild,” said Paul Breslin, managing partner of Panther Hospitality, a consulting group.

Even the right product in the right location “will be very challenging,” he said.

Leventhal said, “This project depends on job growth. We are going to be patient.”

Tivoli’s request of the development authority comes eight months after First Citizens Bank & Trust Co., a South Carolina bank, foreclosed on the site for the 53-story Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a project that was conceived near the end of the real estate boom that reached its apex between 2005 and 2007, a period defined by easy credit and unbridled optimism.

Tivoli’s earlier, $285 million mixed-use project had been slated for 1138 Peachtree St., a parking lot between 13th and 14th streets, one of the busiest sections of the Midtown district. The project was supposed to be a jewel along the proposed Midtown Mile, envisioned as more than 1 million square feet of street-level retail spanning 14 blocks between The Fox Theatre and the Woodruff Arts Center.

“This would be another big win for Midtown and an encouraging sign that development is ramping up,” said Susan Mendheim, president and CEO of the Midtown Alliance, in an e-mail to Atlanta Business Chronicle. “The 1138 Peachtree location is prime for another quality, mixed-use high-rise. It has the potential to be a new icon for Midtown and Atlanta’s skyline, and we’re certainly excited to hear more about plans for it.”

Tivoli’s project comes as a potential rival gains some momentum across from The High Museum of Art.

Alvin D. Jones, president and CEO of Alvin James Group, plans to build a $350 million, 250-room luxury hotel in the 1300 block of Peachtree Street.

The proposed five-star hotel project would include 100 condominium units.

James said he got a funding commitment for the project Oct. 12, which will allow him to close on the land soon.

“I have an Asian investment group providing the funding for the land acquisition and the development,” he said.


Read more: http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/10/18/story2.html?b=1287374400^4094811

[rythym]

It'd be great to see a couple of cranes pop up in '11. Nice Read. Led me to the small leasing at 3630.

[micropundit]

http://www.ajc.com/news/rep-lewis-dot-will-683159.html

[BlindFatSnake]

Originally Posted by ChicagoChicago

Well, that concept certainly hasn't worked in Chicago. LaHood hasn't done shit for Chicagoland yet.

I would guess it's more just a statement that Atlanta (Georgia more than ATL) isn't anti-mass transit, which it has had a history of being.

The BFS hits the nail on the head...

If Barnes becomes governor, expect Mayor Kasim Reid to publicly announce that light rail should be the mode of transit the region needs to pursue in order to achieve a regional transportation system.

If you're a fan FOR rail transit, vote Barnes so he can finish the transit and transportation plans he started with the birth of GRTA.

Just remember, the 1 cent sales option will be on the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission District ballot in Fall of 2012. So, the campaign for success begins as soon as the governorship is decided in 3 short weeks.

Hopefully Georgia will finally get it act together... Today's announcement is GREAAAAAAATTTTTT news.

I'm lovin' it...

[Zanarkand A East]

Count me in, especially if the light rail connects to the eventual new Falcons stadium. Suddenly this city is turning the corner!

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

Count me in, especially if the light rail connects to the eventual new Falcons stadium. Suddenly this city is turning the corner!

The current stadium has rail access.

Assuming the stadium goes at the north end of GWCC, it doesn't make sense to build a transit line there (after all, land uses should follow transit, and not the other way around). As part of the GWCC campus, it would be imperative that they develop their own solution from moving people from their two existing MARTA stations (Vine City and Omni/Dome/GWCC) to the stadium.

[Pessimistic Observer]

call me pessimistic, i prefer you do, but 70mill only covers the startup costs
who will fund this 5 yrs after its built will it be marta and if so how much service will they cut in order to maintain the streetcar line. hopefully the downtown improvement district will fund the cost to run it but i havent seen the answer to that in any of the articles so far

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by Pessimistic Observer

call me pessimistic, i prefer you do, but 70mill only covers the startup costs
who will fund this 5 yrs after its built will it be marta and if so how much service will they cut in order to maintain the streetcar line. hopefully the downtown improvement district will fund the cost to run it but i havent seen the answer to that in any of the articles so far

Maybe it would help if you read the grant application. It seems to go into quite a bit of detail.

[GTdan]

I thought this article was interesting. Who knows what Atlanta would be like today if this project was ever built and in the first picutre it looks like the four seasons hotel is in the middle of nowhere.
http://saportareport.com/blog/2010/01/sw...80%94-the-land-of-his-unrealized-dreams/

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by Terminus

The current stadium has rail access.

Assuming the stadium goes at the north end of GWCC, it doesn't make sense to build a transit line there (after all, land uses should follow transit, and not the other way around). As part of the GWCC campus, it would be imperative that they develop their own solution from moving people from their two existing MARTA stations (Vine City and Omni/Dome/GWCC) to the stadium.

According to an article and map I provided recently (here's the link), the new stadium may be at the corner of Simpson and Northside, which clearly isn't as close to the two stations near the current stadium. My point was that I want the new stadium to be as transit-accessible as the Georgia Dome currently is.

[Terminus]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

According to an article and map I provided recently (here's the link), the new stadium may be at the corner of Simpson and Northside, which clearly isn't as close to the two stations near the current stadium. My point was that I want the new stadium to be as transit-accessible as the Georgia Dome currently is.

The map you have posted is wrong. The site you show is within the Vine City neighborhood and the land in that area actually has legally binding deed restrictions that the GWCC and Falcons agreed to to prevent a stadium from ever going west of Northside Drive. I did the master plan for the Vine City neighborhood last year on behalf of the City of Atlanta and I know what I'm talking about.

The proposed location is north of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (formerly Simpson Street) on the northern parking lot that is part of the GWCC campus (as I mentioned above). As such, some sort of people mover within the campus would have to be built from the two stations at the southern end of the campus to any station on the northern end. Picture something like that he airport running internally from the Dome/GWCC MARTA station north through the existing campus to the new station.

[jddar]

Originally Posted by micropundit

http://www.ajc.com/news/rep-lewis-dot-will-683159.html

The article talks about a streetcar from Sweet Auburn west to the GA Aquarium area. Nothing mentioned about the Peachtree Streetcar, this confuses me. Is the P'tree Streetcar not included? What's going on? Did I miss something? If the P'tree line is not included, that would be very disappointing.

[smArTaLlone]

Originally Posted by jddar

The article talks about a streetcar from Sweet Auburn west to the GA Aquarium area. Nothing mentioned about the Peachtree Streetcar, this confuses me. Is the P'tree Streetcar not included? What's going on? Did I miss something? If the P'tree line is not included, that would be very disappointing.

They only applied for the downtown loop portion of the Peachtree streetcar plan during this much smaller round of DOT funding. The $300 million cost of the Midtown and Downtown streetcar would've been half of the entire amount awarded nationally this time around thus the scaled down project.

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by Terminus

The map you have posted is wrong. The site you show is within the Vine City neighborhood and the land in that area actually has legally binding deed restrictions that the GWCC and Falcons agreed to to prevent a stadium from ever going west of Northside Drive. I did the master plan for the Vine City neighborhood last year on behalf of the City of Atlanta and I know what I'm talking about.

The proposed location is north of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (formerly Simpson Street) on the northern parking lot that is part of the GWCC campus (as I mentioned above). As such, some sort of people mover within the campus would have to be built from the two stations at the southern end of the campus to any station on the northern end. Picture something like that he airport running internally from the Dome/GWCC MARTA station north through the existing campus to the new station.

The marker I placed was in reference to a question I asked the board, I wasn't claiming the new facility would be exactly there, but it's helpful that someone with special knowledge of the adjacent area finally chimed in. Regardless, what I had in mind re: the street car and the people mover you mentioned are basically the same thing, except I want a street car that eventually goes around the entire COP area (including the new Falcons stadium on Northside and a GWCC front entrance on Marietta) rather than a shuttle just between two MARTA Stations and the new Falcons facility. In the end, I'm just speculating, which, unless and until anything actually gets built, is much more fun.

[delarosa]

Originally Posted by Terminus

The proposed location is north of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard (formerly Simpson Street) on the northern parking lot that is part of the GWCC campus (as I mentioned above). As such, some sort of people mover within the campus would have to be built from the two stations at the southern end of the campus to any station on the northern end. Picture something like that he airport running internally from the Dome/GWCC MARTA station north through the existing campus to the new station.

Sorry to be posting this here (vs the transit forum), but since you are actively involved in local planning and mentioned the area, wondering if you know if (if not why) a route from Five Points up Marietta to Northside has ever been seriously considered. It seems like a more sensible usage long-term, not only connecting 5P (to a lessor extent Omni station, though would also wonder if 5P connectivity renders Omni less relevant at that point) and that stadium site, but also Centennial Park, Marietta St and Northside development, Tech campus, Home Park and ultimately Atlantic Station and the Waterworks area.

It'd be a larger undertaking and less specialized for moving game day traffic from MARTA to a new stadium site there, but certainly more extensible and integrated.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by delarosa

Sorry to be posting this here (vs the transit forum), but since you are actively involved in local planning and mentioned the area, wondering if you know if (if not why) a route from Five Points up Marietta to Northside has ever been seriously considered. It seems like a more sensible usage long-term, not only connecting 5P (to a lessor extent Omni station, though would also wonder if 5P connectivity renders Omni less relevant at that point) and that stadium site, but also Centennial Park, Marietta St and Northside development, Tech campus, Home Park and ultimately Atlantic Station and the Waterworks area.

It'd be a larger undertaking and less specialized for moving game day traffic from MARTA to a new stadium site there, but certainly more extensible and integrated.

I'm one of those people who feel like MARTA is missing a NW branch that should go from Downtown to Tech, Vinings, Cumberland, Smyrna, and then Marietta.