ATLANTA | Development Thread VI

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by AK141

This new shorter design just doesn't look good to me I like the taller one much better

The pinwheel looks like it should be much higher in the new rendering, or doesn't exist on the left. Also appears there's podium parking now that wasn't shown in the previous rendering.

[MdtwnATL]

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

On Opus 2. It is a pity to lose a 74 story building for the skyline, however I always thought that it was too high for that location given all the wonderful buildings around it - so 50+ would fit much better into the high rise mixture IMO. My real concern is whether it will be built at all! Do we have another Eviva on our plate?

Disagree. The taller design would have been perfect for right there and would have truly made the Midtown skyline THE postcard skyline of the city.

While I'm disappointed, I had a feeling something like this would happen. I'm with you that I wonder if it'll even get built at all.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by MdtwnATL

Disagree. The taller design would have been perfect for right there and would have truly made the Midtown skyline THE postcard skyline of the city.

While I'm disappointed, I had a feeling something like this would happen. I'm with you that I wonder if it'll even get built at all.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I was ready for something really tall; after all it's been quite a while for us. Disappointed. I'll be happy with the shortened height, but sure was looking forward to the taller one.

[bigstick]

I am disappointed just like all of you. But think about this, if this were proposed to be 53 stories from the beginning we would have been all over this...We are spoiled.

[AK141]

Originally Posted by bigstick

I am disappointed just like all of you. But think about this, if this were proposed to be 53 stories from the beginning we would have been all over this...We are spoiled.

Good point but you have to realize this Tower went from 720 feet to 920 feet to something probably closer to 660 feet this is more so playing with all of our emotions not being spoiled we haven't had a building built over 500 feet tall in eight plus years no way that we are all spoiled

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by AK141

Good point but you have to realize this Tower went from 720 feet to 920 feet to something probably closer to 660 feet this is more so playing with all of our emotions not being spoiled we haven't had a building built over 500 feet tall in eight plus years no way that we are all spoiled

Agree.... Furthermore the lame excuse about the hotel is a joke. Atlanta can never have enough hotel rooms, this story is fishy IMO.

[Atlanta3000]

Opus Place

Something has triggered my bullshit alert on this project and I can't put my finger on it:

First, last November we had the whole Waldorf Astoria coming to Opus Place and they even had a website. Then Olympia Height Management (developer) comes out and says they decided to pass on having a hotel component in this phase so the Waldorf Astoria is out albeit the building height is still 74 stories. Now Olympia Height Management comes out today and says again they are nixing the hotel component and and reducing the floor count to 53 floors.

Am I missing something?

[jwbab]

It looks like the base of a new tower crane has been delivered to the NCR HQ Phase 2 site today.

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by MdtwnATL

Disagree. The taller design would have been perfect for right there and would have truly made the Midtown skyline THE postcard skyline of the city.

I agree the location is perfect for a prominent skyscraper, but I didn't find the design of Opus 2 to be fitting of Atlanta's most recognizable skyscraper. However, this site is massive and still perfectly capable of fitting another larger tower in the future. We shall see.

I just want more places to live and visit in Atlanta.

[Atlanta3000]

Casino Talk

The current Georgia legislation would require one of two casinos in the state to be located in metro Atlanta and involve a private investment of at least $2 billion, including a 1,000-plus-room hotel.

Casinos generate a lot of money, he said. “States need to look to maximize the economic benefits and minimize the social impacts.”

But State Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, didn’t voice the same kind of nuanced view when I spoke to him. He’s one of the main sponsors of the casino legislation.

“First off, this is going to be a destination resort,” he corrected me, with less than half the money coming from gaming.

http://www.myajc.com/news/state--reg...jOeJKUe8GvGOL/

[One ATLien]

Wow, the main appeal to Opus place was the fact that it would be 900 ft+ and the tallest building in Midtown. All of a sudden all that appeal is lost.

[Pemgin]

Definitely dampens enthusiasm for the project. I'm lumping this in with Eviva: if it happens, great, if not...meh

[DWNTWN]

Opus 2: What was once destined to be THE building in Atlanta to buy in, just became a "maybe they will put something better here when this falls through, which it eventually will." The hotel comments are absurd on their face, since the hotel was always supposed to be part of the second tower. This tower was supposed to be corporate suites with condos on top. They talked a lot about how much of a need there was for short term corporate rentals when they gave their sales pitch. My wife and I went from looking forward to buying a unit above 700 feet, and have now moved into not even considering the building. SLS and Yoo on Peachtree are much more exciting buildings now that this one is shorter. Sure, it will be a big tower, but it now looks like the worst the Dallas or Houston Skyline has to offer, instead of a NYC tall residential building, which is what they were selling. In other words, this is going nowhere. They have lost their sales pitch that would induce someone to spend the money they wanted for these units. There was no comparable property in Atlanta, and now, they are just one of a pack.

[DWNTWN]

Originally Posted by DNR

[IMG]Opus Comp [/IMG]

Let's pretend like we can't see the giant parking podium extending off the back of the new render where it was not in the old render. Huge difference in design, and all of it negative.

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by DWNTWN

Opus 2: What was once destined to be THE building in Atlanta to buy in, just became a "maybe they will put something better here when this falls through, which it eventually will." The hotel comments are absurd on their face, since the hotel was always supposed to be part of the second tower. This tower was supposed to be corporate suites with condos on top. They talked a lot about how much of a need there was for short term corporate rentals when they gave their sales pitch. My wife and I went from looking forward to buying a unit above 700 feet, and have now moved into not even considering the building. SLS and Yoo on Peachtree are much more exciting buildings now that this one is shorter. Sure, it will be a big tower, but it now looks like the worst the Dallas or Houston Skyline has to offer, instead of a NYC tall residential building, which is what they were selling. In other words, this is going nowhere. They have lost their sales pitch that would induce someone to spend the money they wanted for these units. There was no comparable property in Atlanta, and now, they are just one of a pack.

You hit it right on the head. I too was interested in a place there, not now.

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by bigstick

You hit it right on the head. I too was interested in a place there, not now.

High rollers up on these boards!

I agree with the sentiment though. I cannot imagine they go for anywhere near the price since it lost the main selling point, but who knows. Loudermilk's condos are all about location and building design, while the Emerson has a design unique to Atlanta as the selling point. No. 2 has a great location, although the design doesn't really do much anymore. And as was stated, the parking podium in the back is not a welcome addition.

[Pemgin]

I guess they can still market it as the tallest residential tower in Midtown. Add to it the cache that comes with the design team and maybe that will be enough to sell some units. I guess this was to be expected. With all objectivity, why would Atlanta have one of the country's tallest residential towers and not Miami, SF, LA, or Boston, for example? If those markets don't have a 900' residential building, it seems like it'd be hard to put one in ATL.

[One ATLien]

Originally Posted by Pemgin

I guess they can still market it as the tallest residential tower in Midtown. Add to it the cache that comes with the design team and maybe that will be enough to sell some units. I guess this was to be expected. With all objectivity, why would Atlanta have one of the country's tallest residential towers and not Miami, SF, LA, or Boston, for example? If those markets don't have a 900' residential building, it seems like it'd be hard to put one in ATL.

With all objectivity, why not?

[Pemgin]

Originally Posted by One ATLien

With all objectivity, why not?

We're not a gateway city like those others, with real estate markets that command the highest premiums. And with construction costs what they are, why would developers build a 900' building in a city with an abundance of available land and virtually no geographic constraints? We get a tall office building once in a while but that's not the same as an almost supertall residential tower. The Atlanta market only seems to command 20-30 story apartment towers. A 74 story condo tower just seems way out of reach for us.

[bigstick]

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