ATLANTA | Development Thread V

[Buck]

No more Arlington vs Atlanta talk in this thread. Take it somewhere else (or don't).

[joecool]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Hadn't seen this before, but it is a more concrete plan for Integral's Doraville redevelopment including the Third Rail Studios portion into the design as well:

http://www.doravillega.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Assembly-Doraville-April-20-2015.pdf

This is excellent. Too bad Atlantic Station isn't more like this. When is groundbreaking and how long is this going to take?

Speaking of Marta. Are they still going to remodel Midtown and Art Center stations?

[Ant131531]

I really hope the Eviva starting this month rumor is correct, but for some reason, I feel like it's not. That's like the last development needed in that area to make it feel complete.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I really hope the Eviva starting this month rumor is correct, but for some reason, I feel like it's not. That's like the last development needed in that area to make it feel complete.

I live next door to that proposal, and the person who created those listings Matt Rohrig is the same person listed on the for sale sign for the parking lot. So who knows. In theory they could start next week as the permit is approved for site prep, they just need to pay the remaining 11k fees.

[cokezero]

Skyhouse Buckhead's website currently shows 104 vacant apartments available to rent out of a total of 326. That's a +/- 70% occupancy rate with the building having been open for a few months now. That peaks my curiosity a bit as the two Skyhouse buildings in Midtown have much better occupancy and, if I remember correctly, were both nearly 100% occupied at the time they opened. Skyhouse South on 7th Street shows 19 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 94% and Skyhouse Midtown on 12th Street shows 13 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 96%.

Does anyone think that's a sign that the apartment market in Buckhead has reached its peak and we'll start seeing some condo conversions soon? Or is it more a sign that the Buckhead renter has more discerning tastes and is not willing to pay $2.50 PSF for subpar-Novare quality as the Midtown renter is? Or has the traffic in Buckhead finally gotten so terrible and the constantly-evolving walkability of Midtown gotten so desirable that this will be a trend we see play out over the next few years with Midtown's apartment buildings thriving while Buckhead's limp along...thus, causing the development boom in Midtown to continue while it potentially stalls out in Buckhead?

[scania]

Originally Posted by cokezero

Skyhouse Buckhead's website currently shows 104 vacant apartments available to rent out of a total of 326. That's a +/- 70% occupancy rate with the building having been open for a few months now. That peaks my curiosity a bit as the two Skyhouse buildings in Midtown have much better occupancy and, if I remember correctly, were both nearly 100% occupied at the time they opened. Skyhouse South on 7th Street shows 19 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 94% and Skyhouse Midtown on 12th Street shows 13 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 96%.

Does anyone think that's a sign that the apartment market in Buckhead has reached its peak and we'll start seeing some condo conversions soon? Or is it more a sign that the Buckhead renter has more discerning tastes and is not willing to pay $2.50 PSF for subpar-Novare quality as the Midtown renter is? Or has the traffic in Buckhead finally gotten so terrible and the constantly-evolving walkability of Midtown gotten so desirable that this will be a trend we see play out over the next few years with Midtown's apartment buildings thriving while Buckhead's limp along...thus, causing the development boom in Midtown to continue while it potentially stalls out in Buckhead?

I hope this doesn't start the Buckhead vs Midtown debate!

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by cokezero

Skyhouse Buckhead's website currently shows 104 vacant apartments available to rent out of a total of 326. That's a +/- 70% occupancy rate with the building having been open for a few months now. That peaks my curiosity a bit as the two Skyhouse buildings in Midtown have much better occupancy and, if I remember correctly, were both nearly 100% occupied at the time they opened. Skyhouse South on 7th Street shows 19 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 94% and Skyhouse Midtown on 12th Street shows 13 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 96%.

Does anyone think that's a sign that the apartment market in Buckhead has reached its peak and we'll start seeing some condo conversions soon? Or is it more a sign that the Buckhead renter has more discerning tastes and is not willing to pay $2.50 PSF for subpar-Novare quality as the Midtown renter is? Or has the traffic in Buckhead finally gotten so terrible and the constantly-evolving walkability of Midtown gotten so desirable that this will be a trend we see play out over the next few years with Midtown's apartment buildings thriving while Buckhead's limp along...thus, causing the development boom in Midtown to continue while it potentially stalls out in Buckhead?

Interesting. That is a lot to conclude from one data point that may not indicate what is going on in the Buckhead market as a whole. But I do think Midtown has reached more of a walkable critical mass that is more attractive to live near. Still, I think Buckhead will be fine.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by cokezero

Skyhouse Buckhead's website currently shows 104 vacant apartments available to rent out of a total of 326.

Similarly, Cyan on Peachtree in Buckhead shows 198 units still vacant, plus 20 "penthouse" 3 bedroom apartments that will become available later this month. Since the building has 329 units, that's only a 34% occupancy rate. The new tower at Post Alexander has 126 units left out of 340, for a 63% occupancy rate. Such a drastic difference compared to similar apartment towers in other neighborhoods, especially the two new student towers in Midtown that are 100% rented and don't open until later this month.

[Ant131531]

That is interesting. I even heard AMLI Ponce Park had a 95%+ occupancy. Millennials aren't too enthusiastic about living in Buckhead? It's just not walkable enough yet. I bet you the condos/apartments at North Highland in the Poncey Highlands area will have high occupancy 3 months after it's complete.

[Atlanta3000]

I think most of these apartment complexes stage their openings so 100% are not available on day 1.

Trust that if Buckhead numbers were this bad, we would certainly hear about it in the news and certainly we would not hear about any additional projects planned for the future (which we have).

[ATL_J]

Originally Posted by cokezero

Skyhouse Buckhead's website currently shows 104 vacant apartments available to rent out of a total of 326. That's a +/- 70% occupancy rate with the building having been open for a few months now. That peaks my curiosity a bit as the two Skyhouse buildings in Midtown have much better occupancy and, if I remember correctly, were both nearly 100% occupied at the time they opened. Skyhouse South on 7th Street shows 19 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 94% and Skyhouse Midtown on 12th Street shows 13 available units out of 320 for an occupancy of 96%.

Does anyone think that's a sign that the apartment market in Buckhead has reached its peak and we'll start seeing some condo conversions soon? Or is it more a sign that the Buckhead renter has more discerning tastes and is not willing to pay $2.50 PSF for subpar-Novare quality as the Midtown renter is? Or has the traffic in Buckhead finally gotten so terrible and the constantly-evolving walkability of Midtown gotten so desirable that this will be a trend we see play out over the next few years with Midtown's apartment buildings thriving while Buckhead's limp along...thus, causing the development boom in Midtown to continue while it potentially stalls out in Buckhead?

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've talked with enough developers to have some insight. The owners of these apartments generally only roll out a certain number of units at a time. Skyhouse Buckhead having 70% absorption after 3 months is pretty good and I'm sure if they wanted to, they could fill it up quicker. There's also things to consider, for example, if they think rent will to continue to go up, they'd rather get more units signed with the higher rents, so why rush to get people in at lower rents? Novare hangs onto their towers so they're not in a rush to hurry up, lease, then sell to an investor (like what North American Properties does).

The other thing to consider is take those occupancy numbers you're seeing online with a grain of salt. They are not accurate. For example, they might only show 15 units available, but in reality there might be 30 units or so.

What we do know, whenever the quarterly reports come out, is that occupancy is at all time highs as are rents. If they, for whatever reason, begin to have trouble to lease units they won't just suddenly convert to condos, they'll give concessions and/or lower rent.

Converting from apartments to condo is not easy and the financing to do something like that would be difficult to obtain. There is a reason you're not seeing condos and it's not because there isn't a market, but because financing and lending regulations.

[Martinman]

To follow on with what was just said, I'm not an expert either but I do have a friend that is a property manager. In my opinion 70% occupancy after only 3 months is absolutely killing it! Just from a logistical standpoint it would be difficult to have the entire building filled as soon as it opens. To my recollection, this is very comparable to the lease-up period for the Midtown towers.

Cyan and Post have been open for less time but appear to be doing well also. The student apartments are a completely different animal and not a good comparison.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

I moved into Skyhouse South within the first month of it opening and it appeared to follow a similar lease up because at first it was very empty, but it seemed like every weekend multiple people were trying to move in and so the main elevator was constantly reserved which sucked cause the other elevators often broke as well (you can only enter the building via elevators)

So I think it is the case that they stage the opening of units and they also can only move-in so many people in a week; most people were moving in on the weekend (or I was just at work and didn't see during the week)

edit: Also AMLI should be starting this month, they have permit for land dev and permit for the foundation issued.

[joecool]

I work in leasing. The reason apartment company's do this are:

1) It's too difficult to have people moving into 150+ units all at once.
2) When it's time for renewals, they don't want to have to try and rent several apartments all at once for those who are not renewing. It messes up the leasing consultants commissions and is hard to lease that many apartments in the same month.

Those are just a few reasons.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Doll house on Cheshire could be going the way of the dodo. There is a proposal to replace it with apartments. I hope that this doesn't mean any risk for the dance clubs around there. It will be the 2nd build of the Aspire brand. Oddly the first was built next to Swinging Richards and now this new one is being built across the street from BJ Roosters...

http://npufatlanta.org/Z-15-031-merged.pdf

[Zanarkand A East]

They are really digging away on that 1010 West Peachtree lot! Also, the project at West Peachtree and 14th seems to have just started a new floor.

[arctk2014]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

Doll house on Cheshire could be going the way of the dodo. There is a proposal to replace it with apartments. I hope that this doesn't mean any risk for the dance clubs around there. It will be the 2nd build of the Aspire brand. Oddly the first was built next to Swinging Richards and now this new one is being built across the street from BJ Roosters...

http://npufatlanta.org/Z-15-031-merged.pdf

For what it's worth there have been some rumors that the industrial sites behind these - including Jungle - is readyt to sell.

[BlueSangha]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

They are really digging away on that 1010 West Peachtree lot! Also, the project at West Peachtree and 14th seems to have just started a new floor.

And the post millennium site, as well as the surface lot for 33 peachtree pl.

[echinatl]

Friend who attended the Castleberry Hill neighborhood association meeting reported that they announced the Castleberry Park hotel is a go and will begin construction Q1 2016, and the Fulton Supply apartment conversion has begun.

[micropundit]

120 Ottley Drive NE- 43,379 Square Feet



165 Ottley Drive NE – 60,000 Square Feet

255 Ottley Drive NE – 51,344 Square Feet

Atlanta-based real estate developer Third and Urban is moving forward with plans to convert several Sweetwater Design District warehouse buildings into Amour Yards, a commercial office complex, according to What Now Atlanta.The project could include “open-air collaborative common areas,” a coffeehouse, a live music venue, a restaurant, fitness studio, bike rentals and storage, and jogging trails

Plans were recently filed with City of Atlanta for part of the project’s first phase — a $2.9 million transformation of 120 Ottley Drive NE, a 44,745-square-foot warehouse, into offices.Armour Yards Phase One totals 150,000 square feet of office space, according to Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) marketing materials (JLL is brokering the space for Third and Urban.) In all, plans call to increase the size of the project to approximately 300,000 square feet.“Armour Yards will deliver a life and work enhancing environment where business thrives and people want to be.”


http://whatnowatlanta.com/2015/08/04/ini...ve-300k-square-foot-amour-yards-project/