ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[cactuspunk]

Originally Posted by cokezero

If I were a betting man, I'd say that it's still going to happen sooner or later, although probably with much less density. Brock Built survived the housing crash and they were able to maintain ownership of quite a bit of the original West Town assemblage if you check the tax records. Brock is nearly built out at Dupont Commons, so the next logical intown site to build on would be the one they already own at West Town. The only question would be A&D financing because that's still very difficult to obtain for most homebuilding firms. They partnered with a deep pocketed suburban developer named the Pacific Group to help provide the liquidity necessary to get through the housing downturn without losing all their existing projects to the banks, so maybe those guys would team up again on West Town and negate the issue of A&D financing.

Also, AMLI still owns their West Town parcels and Acadia Homes has assembled a block directly adjacent to the West Town property on Fairmont Ave, so it probably won't be too long before that West Town dream comes to fruition.

If this West Town development does come to fruition they need to figure out something with the current street infrastructure. One little two lane road, Huff, can't possibly handle all of this additional traffic that will feed to it once all of this development is built out. This street has already had significant apartment/condo development over the past few years and continues to today with the new apartments being built at Foster Street. I do see that it connects to Ellsworth, but I'm pretty sure the majority of the commuting patterns will be pulling people to Howell Mill and not by way of Ellsworth.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i'm really disappointed by all the low-rise development, but not because i don't think it's *dense* enough— it's because the development i've seen so far doesn't seem to be sustainable. what do i mean by sustainable? i mean, in 20 years, are people going to want to live there? will it be livable?

the building codes for high rises are much more strict and you can see when the buildings are going up, that they are solid— iron bars, concrete, a solid base. you're guaranteed that a building like skyhouse is going to be prime real estate 20 years from now.

the low rise development doesn't have to meet the same building standards because it isn't as tall— and developers are cutting corners anyway they can to make the most cost-efficient building. unfortunately that means the whole thing is going to be made out of plywood, drywall, pressure-treated wood, etc. those buildings are great now, but what are they going to look like 20 or 30 years from now after they've had dozens of occupants per room? my guess is that many of these low-rise developments will look like this within 50 years:



so i guess you can see my problem here. i'm worried that all this low-rise development in town will be for naught, because we'll just be building 'the slums of tomorrow'. do y'all really believe that these buildings are built to a quality that they will last?

If you can look past the clotheslines and satellite dishes, it seems like all the outside of this building needs is some maintenance and a coat of paint to make it more desirable. I don't think you can assume that it's substandard construction, but it is obviously poorly maintained.

I think with proper maintenance these more cheaply-constructed buildings can stand the test of time.

[AtlantaMustang]

Progress on the parking deck by the capitol.

Taken today by me.


I know it's just a parking deck, but long term maybe the purpose of moving it, the capitol gateway park, will get built?

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2008/01/28/capitol-gateway-park-moves-closer-to-reality

[nature's calling]

Some good articles have recently been posted by the Atlanta Bsiness Chroncle. However, these are all subscriber content, so you'll only be able to read a snippet of the whole article for a few weeks.

A bid by Republicans in the Georgia House of Representatives to require MARTA to privatize some operations and make other cost-cutting moves is in trouble in the state Senate.

House Bill 264 passed the Republican-controlled House last month largely along party lines. But Senate GOP leaders haven’t taken up the bill and don’t appear likely to.

“We recognize that MARTA has a new commander-in-chief,” said Senate Rules Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, referring to the hiring of Keith Parker in December as MARTA general manager. “We need to give him a year.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print...a-mandates-bill-running-out-of-time.html

Atlanta Beltline officials are taking the next steps to fund an expanded streetcar system in the wake of last year’s failure of TSPLOST.

But the effort comes amid belt-tightening at the state and federal levels. That complicates the ability to tap federal transportation funding such as New Starts and TIGER, which expanded MARTA over the years and supported the first phase of the Atlanta Streetcar.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/03/22/officials-seek-to-extend-streetcar.html

The Ponce City Market is gaining some huge momentum. There will soon be an additional 400 workers on the site per day.

It’s hard to name another intown mixed-use project with more momentum than Ponce City Market, the more than $200 million redevelopment of the former Sears building in Old Fourth Ward.

Atlanta developer Jamestown is deep into construction on the 2-million-square-foot building at Ponce de Leon and North avenues.

It’s evident in the 56,000 window panes now being replaced. There are 250 workers, soon to be 600, on the site every day. A Sears, Roebuck & Co. stone etching is newly revealed over the stairs off Ponce. (The City Hall East sign came down earlier this month.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print...ponce-city-market-building-momentum.html

Originally Posted by echinatl

HELL YEA! I went to Counterpoint last year and it was REALLY great, this will be even better!
Edit: Rumor is that this will replace Counterpoint.

Counterpoint will still be happening this year, although dates have not been announced. There should be more information by next month.

[jnihiser]

Drove by last night and snapped this shot...It looks awesome.

[Zanarkand A East]

I also passed by Game X this week, as well as the worksite for the College Football Hall of Fame a block away. Between those, and Times Square South if it happens, Luckie Marietta is really heating up. I wonder if GWCCA is still planning to redevelop GWCC with a huge front door on Marietta street? If so, not having to cover operating costs for the new Falcons stadium, along with proceeds from the Falcons for the stadium lease, should free up money to enhance GWCC. Speaking of the Birds:

An up-close look at the Falcons stadium deal (AJC)

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by AtlantaMustang

Progress on the parking deck by the capitol.

Taken today by me.


I know it's just a parking deck, but long term maybe the purpose of moving it, the capitol gateway park, will get built?

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2008/01/28/capitol-gateway-park-moves-closer-to-reality

I hope that skyway is coming down too, to open up the view of the skyline from the south. Also, I wonder if they're considering removing part of the parking deck across the street to add an extra lane on the interchange between 75/85 South to 20 West. That's the biggest pinch point on the Connector, and there's room to add a much-needed lane under the current deck.

[clexmond]

Shameless bump, but I've made a lot of changes the the development map. There's filtering now and a whole new interface. I'd appreciate any feedback:

http://map.atlantadev.com

[SteveD]

I don't know if it's worthy of your map but I see similarly scaled projects on there so I'll throw this out.

The John B. Gordon school in East Atlanta is to be demolished and redeveloped as multifamily by Paces Properties.

It's not a very large project but it's a big deal for East Atlanta because it will bring much needed density to the area and lots of new pedestrians for our business district at the intersection of Flat Shoals and Glenwood. Here's a Patch article about it.

Gordon School in East Atlanta to be redeveloped in $15 million-project

[mattb112885]

Originally Posted by clexmond

Shameless bump, but I've made a lot of changes the the development map. There's filtering now and a whole new interface. I'd appreciate any feedback:

http://map.atlantadev.com

It looks good... but when I click on one of the developments it opens up about 15 tabs with the same info in each (I'm on the latest version of Firefox)

[clexmond]

Originally Posted by mattb112885

It looks good... but when I click on one of the developments it opens up about 15 tabs with the same info in each (I'm on the latest version of Firefox)

Hmm, interesting. I'll have to do some digging, thanks.

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by clexmond

Shameless bump, but I've made a lot of changes the the development map. There's filtering now and a whole new interface. I'd appreciate any feedback:

http://map.atlantadev.com

Looks great; is there any way to have the name of the project pop up when hovering over it, instead of opening a new tab to see what it is? Great job linking to the websites, although there are more up-to-date websites for some projects (e.g. the GSU Law building).

[Zanarkand A East]

According to the below link, the preferred design for the Multimodal Passenger Terminal is this, which would provide a covered connection all the way from Five Points MARTA Station to Philips Arena:



MMPT Project News, Spring 2013

Cutaway views of all three alternatives:

http://www.dot.ga.gov/informationcenter/...Design%20Concepts%20July%2011%202012.pdf

Proposed street reconnections related to MMPT:

http://www.dot.ga.gov/informationcenter/...c%20Meeting%20No2%20Boards_2012-0711.pdf

[ATLaffinity]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

Looks great; is there any way to have the name of the project pop up when hovering over it, instead of opening a new tab to see what it is? Great job linking to the websites, although there are more up-to-date websites for some projects (e.g. the GSU Law building).

Agreed. Nice clean look but lack of rollover is a step backwards.

[ChrisInmanPark]

Originally Posted by jnihiser

Drove by last night and snapped this shot...It looks awesome.

Game X opens this Wednesday, March 27. I think it will be really successful with all the tourist and especially kids that go to the Aquarium. This gamebar model is really successful. Just look at how popular Joystick Gamebar is on Edgewood.

[micropundit]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

According to the below link, the preferred design for the Multimodal Passenger Terminal is this, which would provide a covered connection all the way from Five Points MARTA Station to Philips Arena:



MMPT Project News, Spring 2013

Cutaway views of all three alternatives:

http://www.dot.ga.gov/informationcenter/...Design%20Concepts%20July%2011%202012.pdf

Proposed street reconnections related to MMPT:

http://www.dot.ga.gov/informationcenter/...c%20Meeting%20No2%20Boards_2012-0711.pdf

Great news, thanks for the updates! Now if the powers that be with the new stadium work with FIC, this part of Atlanta can become a true urban center.

[clexmond]

Originally Posted by ATLaffinity

Agreed. Nice clean look but lack of rollover is a step backwards.

Ok, rollovers are there and no more automatically opening a new window. Enjoy!

[ChadK]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

According to the below link, the preferred design for the Multimodal Passenger Terminal is this, which would provide a covered connection all the way from Five Points MARTA Station to Philips Arena:



MMPT Project News, Spring 2013

This was my favorite choice for the MMPT so thumbs up on that!

But I noticed on page 3 that Amtrak is listed as one of the transit options... I thought they were ruled out due to right of way restrictions. Personally, I feel that if Amtrak is not included in the MMPT than the project is rather pointless.

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by micropundit

Great news, thanks for the updates! Now if the powers that be with the new stadium work with FIC, this part of Atlanta can become a true urban center.

At this rate, South Downtown may become the international restaurant destination that was envisioned decades ago. I can't wait to see what the retail mix looks like. At the very least, there will be more to eat around the sports venues, and it will be an easy walk across Centennial Olympic Park Drive (and the new Centennial Olympic Park Boulevard) to get to Philips Arena, instead of that hike up those steep stairs from the GWCC Station side. Replacing that huge hole in the ground with Atlanta's version of LA Live will be a HUGE improvement!

[Zanarkand A East]

Developer: Atlanta has "new vitality and momentum" (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

Forgive the small scale (I actually hate this place, but at least it's another business opening):

SLIDESHOW: Waffle House opens near Centennial Park (Atlanta Business Chronicle)