Some Atlanta Suburbs Craving Walkability Are Coming Around On Apartments
Density is still a dirty word in many suburban cities and towns throughout Georgia. But some cities in Atlanta’s belt of northern suburbs are starting to embrace larger developments with apartments and a mix of commercial units, at times defying NIMBYism, developers said during Bisnow’s Atlanta State of the Market event last week. “Suburban and municipal governments in every northern arc city and county in Metro Atlanta has been afraid of density, afraid of multifamily residential, afraid of anything that threatens their life behind the gates of their golf course communities,” said Toro Development Co. founder Mark Toro, who developed Avalon in Alpharetta while at North American Properties, one of the region’s first urban-like dense mixed-use developments to sprout up in suburban Atlanta. Avalon has more than 500 apartment units, an aspect of the project that was met with pushback during its municipal approval process. But Toro and other panelists at the event, held at The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta, said apartment dwellers are critical to the health of the retail and commercial aspects of these popular projects, which rely on sales to survive. “Those sales are driven by density,” Toro said. “If you’re going to fuel downtown, town center districts, you better have a lot of people.” Despite the need for customers — and the ongoing housing crisis in the region — anti-apartment attitudes remain strong in many suburban cities and counties in Metro Atlanta, with a handful of districts imposing new moratoriums on multifamily over the past year. Since 2022, Henry County and the cities of Marietta and Roswell have enacted moratoriums on new apartment development. Stockbridge also blocked accepting applications for any new rental units, including build-to-rent homes, in 2021. Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul vowed to block new apartment applications within the city’s borders for three years during a Bisnow event last summer. But other city leaders have sought out developers willing to build apartments to transform their town centers. Despite some initial pushback, the city of Snellville, 25 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta, entered into a public-private partnership to create the Grove, an $85M mixed-use city center that includes 250 apartments. The success of the Grove has helped to ease some attitudes toward multifamily in other suburban cities of Gwinnett County, Smallwood principal Greg Bennett said. Duluth, Lawrenceville, Sugar Hill and Peachtree Corners also have approved multifamily within mixed-use projects in recent years. “I think the success of that project is a testament to the sort of breaking the logjam” against multifamily, Bennett said. “People realize they want convenience, they want walkability, they want connectivity. And as long as you provide it, that’s kind of, sort of, what the secret is.” North American Properties received approval last year to develop more than 600 apartment units across two properties in Peachtree Corners, including more than 300 units as part of its revamp of the Forum on Peachtree Parkway shopping center. That approval was not unanimous among all city council members and area residents. North American Properties Managing Partner Tim Perry said apartment dwellers are critical to fueling sales in the retail tenants in these projects, which in turn help to generate more tax revenues to support more infrastructure and school spending, particularly in traditional suburban bedroom communities. “All of these single-family subdivisions don’t pay for themselves. They don’t pay for the wear and tear on the roads, schools or anything else,” Perry said. “It comes down to me on leadership … within these municipalities. They either accept the burden of their elected position and understand that they need to make decisions for the citizens years down the...
read moreMidCity Real Estate Partners Nominated for Award from Urban Land Institute
MidCity Real Estate Partners is nominated by the Urban Land Institute as a finalist for the award of “Excellence in Town Center Development” for our work on the Alpharetta City Center. Learn more about the project here.
read moreKirk Demetrops brought Main Street to the suburbs
Like many cities, Alpharetta had to adapt. For decades, the expansion of regional shopping centers stole the vibrancy of its main street. Merchants struggled to thrive, as downtowns became a pass-through on the way to the stores and restaurants at suburban regional malls. Today, it’s a much different story. In the age of Amazon, what once involved driving to your favorite store to shop now takes just a moment on your smart phone or laptop. For Atlanta’s largest owners of retail space such as DDR Corp. and Simon Property Group, it’s been a challenge to keep their projects relevant. For cities such as Alpharetta, it’s created an opportunity for rebirth. People want to spend time again in once forgotten downtowns. Some visit new restaurants popping up on town squares. Others take advantage of new greenways and open spaces. A little over four years ago, Kirk Demetrops, founder of Atlanta MidCity Real Estate Partners, pursued a new project called Alpharetta City Center. Demetrops assembled a development team that included South City Partners, Morris & Fellows and Hedgewood Homes. Today, the project includes 75,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 36,000 square feet of office, 168 apartments and 42 single family homes — a “mini-town” that brought Main Street back to life. “Demand has been phenomenal,” Demetrops said. “Alpharetta, deservedly so, set a high bar for us. “The partners I brought in really delivered spectacular product. Most of the project is 100-percent leased or owned, including a corporate headquarters and eclectic group of retailers and restauranteurs.” MidCity, which has developed more traditional office projects along Georgia 400, continues to look for more opportunities for downtown redevelopments. Demetrops joins a number of developers, architects and urban designers that are bringing new, walkable projects to the region. What led you to your career? I started my real estate career one month after graduating from undergrad, celebrating 30 years in the business earlier this year. Initially, I thought the industry was compelling by combining business/finance to a hard asset. As my career transitioned to development 20 years ago, I really found that I could use my “visual” strength as person to lead the creation and execution of a development/redevelopment. Who has been your greatest influence in your career or job? In 2000, Joel Griffin met with me (and my partner at the time) and offered to buy our company, Forum Realty. Forum was early in Atlanta, with the idea of redevelopment and going back in town to look at opportunities. Joel gave us the backing and infrastructure, and let us go to work. We did interesting deals all over, from Grant Park to Alpharetta. Joel had many tremendous qualities, but I mostly remember his positive attitude, which was infectious. What has been your biggest challenge? The development business is cyclical, and the Great Recession certainly emphasized that reality. However, I think our biggest challenge is time. The deals we are pursuing are complicated, with many moving parts and partners. Many take two to four years to put together. This adds a significant level of additional risk. What has been your most rewarding moment in your career? As a developer, we get to see our end product and can look back at the steps taken to get there. I really like figuring out the form and function of a development, the right mix. I consider MidCity a “custom” developer that brings a unique solution to the development/redevelopment of a property. In the 1990s, so much development in North Fulton was clustered along Georgia 400. How does the city-center trend in Alpharetta, Duluth, Suwanee, etc. underscore important changes in suburban Atlanta land use patterns? I think everyone wants...
read moreAlpharetta City Center Wins Development Of Excellence Award
Alpharetta City Center, the public-private partnership redevelopment in the city’s core, was honored Friday with a 2018 Development of Excellence Award by the Atlanta Regional Commission. The project won the award in the category of Exceptional Merit for Context-Sensitive Town Center Development. The awards, given during the agency’s State of the Region Breakfast held Nov. 2, recognize the developments and places that are improving quality of life in the 10-county Atlanta region. Alpharetta City Center’s walkable 26 acres are home to Alpharetta City Hall, a Fulton County Library branch, as well as restaurants, retail, offices, luxury apartments, single-family houses, and 2.5 acres of green space. The project is a result of a public-private partnership whose groundwork was laid 15 years ago when the city first set forth its goals to build a true downtown through its LCI program. In the years since, it has worked steadily to create City Center from mostly underutilized commercial spaces around the intersection of North Main Street and Academy Street. The transformation is dramatic, as the project has replaced an assortment of empty lots and underused buildings with a unified building design that blends seamlessly with the surrounding historic downtown, including a network of bike-ped paths that connect housing to schools, retail, and other amenities. The development is designed around five major green spaces. At its center, the Town Green connects the new City Hall to the restaurants and shops of Main Street. City Center has attracted a great deal of development, including chef-driven restaurants and residential, retail, and offices — including DataScan, whose headquarters now fill a 26,000 square-foot building. The development has important green touches, too. Pervious surfaces — which help reduce storm-water runoff — make up more than 10 of its 26 acres. This was accomplished by replacing old streets and parking lots with greenspaces that house freestanding buildings. In addition, pervious materials were installed wherever possible to mitigate storm-water, and an underground system filters storm-water runoff before it reaches the property’s detention pond. The top award, the 2018 Development of Excellence, went to La France Walk, a residential community in Atlanta’s Edgewood neighborhood that features varied housing options and price points to encourage greater diversity and walkability. ARC also presented its Great Places Award to The Aerotropolis Area, a dynamic part of the Atlanta region that includes communities around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Other awards recognized: the city of Chamblee and Mercy Park senior housing and healthcare facility, and Constellations, a lovingly restored workspace in downtown Atlanta that honors the building’s history and the civil rights legacy of the neighborhood. This article was first published by Patch on November 2nd, 2018 and was written by Kristal Dixon. To see the article as it was first published, click...
read moreARC’s Developments of Excellence Awards Recognize Community-Enhancing Places
Alpharetta City Center is the beating heart of downtown Alpharetta. Its walkable 26 acres are home to Alpharetta City Hall, a Fulton County Library branch, as well as restaurants, retail, offices, luxury apartments, single-family houses, and 2.5 acres of green space. The project is a result of a public-private partnership whose groundwork was laid 15 years ago when the city of Alpharetta first set forth its goals to build a true downtown through its LCI program. In the years since, it has worked steadily to create City Center from mostly underutilized commercial spaces around the intersection of N. Main Street and Academy Street. The transformation is dramatic. The City Center has replaced an assortment of empty lots and underused buildings with a unified building design that blends seamlessly with the surrounding historic downtown, including a network of bike-ped paths that connect housing to schools, retail, and other amenities. The development is designed around five major green spaces. At its center, the Town Green connects the new City Hall to the restaurants and shops of Main Street. City Center has attracted a great deal of development, such as chef-driven restaurants and residential, retail, and offices — including DataScan, whose headquarters now fill 36,000 of a 45,000 square-foot building. The development has important green touches, too. Pervious surfaces — which help reduce storm-water runoff — make up more than 10 of its 26 acres. This was accomplished by replacing old streets and parking lots with green spaces that house freestanding buildings. In addition, pervious materials were installed wherever possible to mitigate storm-water, and an underground system filters storm-water runoff before it reaches the property’s detention pond. This article was first published by the Atlanta Regional Commission on November 2nd, 2018. To read the original posting of this article, click...
read moreMixed-use development booming in metro Atlanta area
Is Atlanta’s love affair with the car over? If recent mixed-use projects in development across the metro area are any indication, autos may soon become optional. The drive to get out from behind the wheel and walk, bike or hop on public transit is fueling an array of new construction projects with live-work-play themes. While mixed-use developments have changed the metro area landscape in recent years, even more are rising both intown and in suburban communities. Developers are devising projects with retail and restaurant spaces, offices, recreation and residential components. And all include some element of travel that does not involve a car. That fact pleases the staff of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)’s Livable Centers Initiative, which has been working toward . “The basic premise of the [LCI] program was to get people out of their cars and create this environment where you can live, work and play in close proximity,” said Sam Shenbaga, ARC’s community development group manager. “That program has been successful throughout metro Atlanta, as we now have about 119 designated LCI areas where we want to create these dense, walkable communities. And it’s been happening as much in downtown, Midtown and Buckhead as Acworth, Woodstock and other outlying suburbs.” Establishing these projects may take longer in some areas, he added. “Midtown has had this idea for a long time,” he said. “But sometimes it’s slower to come to other areas where the idea of doing dense, walkable, mixed income projects might be new.” Still, Shenbaga said he is celebrating the successes. “Since the program began in 1999, vehicle miles traveled per capita has dropped by 13 percent, and while it’s not all from the LCI program, LCI has had a big role in making that happen,” he said. “Twenty-nine percent of commercial development and 69 percent of office development has been in these projects that get people off the roads and walking and biking more. They’re in communities with apartments, condos, grocery stores, parks and bike trails, so people don’t need to get in their personal vehicles for every trip.” ARC identifies two groups behind the push to abandon cars. One is the aging population that wants the lifestyle a mixed-use project brings, particularly the ability to walk to services, restaurants and recreation from a one-story living space. The second group, typically including millennials, is the next generation of workers who want to trade commuting time for communing time. That’s the allure of Alpharetta’s City Center project, a 25-acre redevelopment in Alpharetta’s downtown area that is adding 100,000 square feet of retail and 36,000 square feet of office space, along with apartments, single-family homes, parks and a dozen restaurants. This article was originally published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 3rd, 2018 and written by H.M. Cauley. To read the article in its original publication, click...
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