ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[GTdan]

Tech Square (Old picture as you can see)

[GTdan]

It will be interesting to see what will happen if Tech buys the suntrust on W. Peachtree.

[AtlantaMustang]

I think a lot of the reason Tech's campus is not so connected is not Tech's fault at all. It is separated along its east side by the highway. Tech square is the only part that really could be integrated and it definitely is. The 5th street bridge is a great connection from Tech to midtown. Tech is actually a very open campus compared with many other campuses. I guess I am slightly biased on this though considering I go there...

Just so happens I took a picture that shows this today, entirely by coincidence


http://s1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb359/gtjared/?action=view&current=S5000726.jpg

[RobMidtowner]

Originally Posted by sevensixtwo

I took MARTA to GSU for four years. It's awesome. It's good for Atlanta. The whole area is on the up and up. Now I live midtown and drive to GT everyday for $600 annually. I might feel like walking to school in the morning but when it's time to go i sure as hell don't want to walk back. I think it's retarded that there's no way to park at the library anymore.

Crum and Forster is still standing. That other building on North was a piece and its better to have parking than not have that old thing. GT is great, they are a boon to Atlanta's economy and its urban fabric on any metric.

One thing though... They really should make every building on campus have a red brick facade. All this over flourished architecture is going to look dated pretty soon. Bricks are academic looking and they'll keep looking that way. Maybe I'm wrong though... Maybe glass is the new brick?

You should ride a bike

[simms3_redux]

So the scoop I got on the Suntrust building purchase:

The building is a historic Lewis Edmund "Buck" Crook design (interesting because "Buck Cook" was the last IFC president at Tech). Tech want to tear it down and put something else up (which I could not gather what and I am not sure Tech even knows) and the preservationists of course want the building to remain as is (albeit fixed up).

Even though I am a student at Tech and hope to participate in the Foundation later on in life, I am siding with the preservationists here. The building is beautiful and has some ornate detail on its facade. There could be plenty of uses for the building methinks.

[echinatl]

I think you're talking about the Crum and foster building. Suntrust building is on the other side, tiny, and not very nice so I hope it's not considered historic. They're both really close to each other though. Crum fronts Spring, the Suntrust branch fronts W.Peachtree.

[sevensixtwo]

[sevensixtwo]

Originally Posted by briantech

Why don't you take the trolley?

I don't want to wait for it or walk home from MARTA. It's very anti-urban of me I know but after not having a car til I was 27 there is no substitute for driving my own ass right where I want when I want.

[jew4life4948]

This really caught my eye, with the addition of the Lowes Hotel. If the Mandarin Hotel is going where I think it's going then it should fill in a nice little gap.

[ATLaffinity]

-Yeah, the SunTrust building is totally different and I imagine not worth preserving.

-Mandarin Oriental is dead, no?

[Kingofthehill]

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit and spend four days in Atlanta. What I saw and did during that trip has left me with the impression that – at least on SSP – its reputation is rather overblown and is kind of undeserved.

Far too often on our forums, the city is derided for being auto centric and having excessive amounts of corresponding auto-oriented infrastructure and development. Yes, while that is indeed ever true, in no way is it limited or somehow unique to Atlanta, which is the picture individuals tend to paint here. Chiding on and on about such would be, in essence, to rag on the overwhelming, vast majority of American cities, for they share similar, auto-centric qualities and development patterns (unfortunately, I might add). Though, of course, that doesn’t mean the city is perfect, or that it isn’t deserving of criticism; to say that, I’d be lying to both myself and you all.

For all of its faults, the situation on the ground is not nearly as bad as one, judging from the image bandied around on the forums, would imagine. Visiting the city's many neighborhoods, I found heaps of cozy, village-like nabes hidden beneath canopies of trees; plentiful post-industrial-chic areas; and an existing heavy-rail transit system. Streetcar suburbs and industrial loft conversion are romanticized everywhere else, but why not Atlanta? And, sadly, HRT, is all too scarce of an amenity in this country - not the kind of thing you find in all cities. See, not all that bad, right? Finally, an abundance of new, urbanist infill, along with pro-urban ordinances, streetscape and transit development developments signal a willingness to rectify the city’s current nature. I like Atlanta.

I wrote the above in my photo thread, comprised of the photos I took around town. I thought perhaps the Atlanta forumers would like to see that SSP forumers from other cities can indeed visit and have nice things to say

Here's the thread in mention - perhaps a few of you can get a kick out of it. your opinions and feedback mean alot! :http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=186116

[simms3_redux]

Yep definitely already commented on that thread...one of the best I have seen of the city!!! Thanks

And about the Suntrust building, my bad about the confusion...I did not hear about us acquiring branch building and thought we were talking about the next door historic building which apparently we also own and are fighting preservationists on (though I hope the preservationists prevail).

[micropundit]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2010/10/29/Porsche.html

[gttx]

Originally Posted by simms3_redux

And about the Suntrust building, my bad about the confusion...I did not hear about us acquiring branch building and thought we were talking about the next door historic building which apparently we also own and are fighting preservationists on (though I hope the preservationists prevail).

I led the student effort to save the Crum and Forster a few years back - but I haven't heard any updates on the situation recently. Last I heard the city was trying to get the building landmarked. Would be good to see it reused as something beneficial to the school in the near future.

[atlphoto222]

a few shots from the past year

[patriotizzy]

^^^^ Great pictures of the skyline. Never really knew what it looked like. I like it

[KevinFromTexas]

Very nice. Love all those lit crowns and spires.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

I wrote the above in my photo thread, comprised of the photos I took around town. I thought perhaps the Atlanta forumers would like to see that SSP forumers from other cities can indeed visit and have nice things to say

Here's the thread in mention - perhaps a few of you can get a kick out of it. your opinions and feedback mean alot! :http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=186116

Honest comments like yours are certainly appreciated here...and I think that the vast majority of the negativity toward Atlanta comes from people who really don't know. I would guess that most people who actually visit come away with a positive image of the city.

[TonyAnderson]

Those are some of the best I've seen of Atlanta atlphoto222, thanks.

[gttx]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

^^^^ Great pictures of the skyline. Never really knew what it looked like. I like it

And that really only shows Midtown (with Downtown in the background of some). It's tough to capture Atlanta's entire skyline in one shot because it is so linear (and the city is very hilly / tree-covered, so vantage points farther away are limited). Really, though, you need to see Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead to appreciate the growth of the city in the past 20-30 years.

As an aside, my old favorite vantage point of the skyline (near 17th and Northside) has now been obstructed by a very large and very annoying billboard.