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 moreSandy Springs nears plan for city center expansion
Sandy Springs is keen on a southern expansion of City Springs, a project aimed at creating a downtown environment in the North Fulton suburb. Local leaders recently agreed to consider selecting a master developer for the 4-acre expansion, which would take shape along Mount Vernon Highway and Hildebrand Drive near Sandy Springs Circle. The city will choose between five real estate companies, mostly comprised of Atlanta-based firms with experience creating mixed-use projects in the metro area. These are the firms considered for the project: The Atlantic Cos. MidCity Real Estate Partners with ASD|SKY Mill Creek Residential Trust with Westbridge Regent Partners with Morris and Fellows RocaPoint Partners and The Georgetown Co. The expansion involves redeveloping city-owned buildings — including a fleet facility for vehicles and gym used by Sandy Springs Police Department — and 108 surface parking spaces. The site is located to the south of the existing City Springs campus, a 14-acre project anchored by a five-story city hall, performing arts center, town green, shops, restaurants and apartments. In recent years, Atlanta’s suburbs have embraced the concept of creating city centers or vibrant downtowns. Suwanee, Woodstock and Duluth have all centered residential units, shops and restaurants around public space. Mixed-use developments such as Avalon in Alpharetta or Halcyon in Forsyth County serve a similar purpose for those communities. Johns Creek recently tapped Toro Development Co. to transform an empty State Farm office campus into a mixed-use destination with apartments, shops, restaurants, townhomes, offices and ample public space. A town center built from scratch is also underway in Snellville. Peachtree Corners, Avondale Estates, Tucker and Roswell are a few of other cities in the midst of expanding their downtown areas. The five firms will now pitch development proposals to Sandy Springs with the projected financial performance of their plans, said Mayor Rusty Paul at a late January meeting. Sandy Springs expects to select a master developer and award a contract by April, added City Manager Eden Freeman. A concept plan for the 4-acre expansion depicts a 120-room boutique hotel, 56,000 square feet of offices, 27,000 square feet of retail space, 149 residential units and 750 private and shared parking spaces. The final project approved by the city could deviate from the preliminary ideas for the site. This article first appeared in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on February 8th, 2023 by Tyler Wilkins. To see the original article, click...
read moreAloft hotel planned for Sandy Springs
An Aloft hotel is planned for a new mixed-use project in Sandy Springs. A joint venture of Childress Klein and MidCity Real Estate Partners sold a 0.65-acre site for the 140-key hotel at its NorthPlace development. RevPAR Development paid $3 million for the site and will develop the hotel. It’s planned at Barfield Road and Mount Vernon Highway, near the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz U.S. and the Sandy Springs MARTA station. The NorthPlace project will also include a 250,000-square-foot office and retail building developed by Childress Klein and MidCity. Aloft is a contemporary hotel brand under Marriott International Inc. It serves to complement the W brand, offering a similar stay at more affordable prices. Georgia’s first Aloft opened downtown near Centennial Olympic Park in 2014. “Office tenants are looking for an amenitized environment,” said Kirk Demetrops, president and founder of MidCity. “Aloft is a great complement to the mixed-use project.” Another Aloft hotel is planned at SunTrust Park. This is an excerpt from an article that was first published in the Atlanta Business Chronical on August 2nd, 2019 and is written by Amy Wenk. To read the article in its original publication, click...
read moreSandy Springs council approves Barfield hotel, office
The Sandy Springs City Council gave final approval to the plan to build hotel and office buildings on Barfield Road and Mount Vernon Highway at its March 19 meeting. The 14-year-old plan to bring two new buildings to Barfield Road at Mount Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs originally called for office buildings, but a hotel was later added, a change requiring city approval. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval at its Feb. 26 meeting. The 3.7-acre lot at 6403 Barfield Road sits west of Ga. 400 and is adjacent to the Promenade at Northplace condo development. The original plan, under the name NorthPlace, was for two multistory buildings that have office space and retail on the bottom floor. One of those buildings is now expected to be a 10-story Aloft hotel, an upscale brand owned by hotel chain Marriott. Under the zoning conditions, the hotel is limited to six stories and the office building to 10 stories. The Autumn Chace townhome community opposed the plan until language was added to ensure only one of the buildings would be a hotel and to limit the hours for hotel bars and live entertainment. This article was first published in the Sandy Springs section of the Reporter Newspaper on March 24th, 2019 and is written by Evelyn Andrews. To read the original publication, click...
read moreDeveloper proposes swapping hotel for office building in Sandy Springs, Ga.
A developer wants to change a 14-year-old plan for a project in Sandy Springs to swap a hotel for one of two office buildings. MidCity Real Estate Partners sees demand for an additional hotel due to the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters and the City Springs mixed-use development nearby the 3.7-acre NorthPlace site at Barfield Road and Mount Vernon Highway, according to a Reporter Newspapers story. Fulton County approved the original designs for NorthPlace in 2004 before Sandy Springs incorporated. MidCity Real Estate Partners is seeking to have Sandy Springs approve a hotel in place of one of the office buildings, with construction to start next year. The building site at 6403 Barfield Road is west of Ga. 400 and is adjacent to the Promenade at Northplace condo development. It is located at 6403 Barfield Road. The original plan was for two multistory office buildings with ground-floor retail. Under the new proposal, one of those buildings would become a 7-story Aloft hotel, a brand owned by hotel chain Marriott. The footprint is identical, and the only change is the use of one of the buildings, said MidCity executive Kirk Demetrops. Read more here. This story was originally published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on October 3rd, 2018 and is written by Jessica Saunders. To read the original post, click...
read moreHotel proposed for Sandy Springs’ Barfield Road
A 14-year-old plan to bring two new buildings to Barfield Road at Mount Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs has been updated with a proposed hotel. The original designs were approved in 2004 by Fulton County, before the city’s incorporation. Now the developer, MidCity Real Estate Partners, is seeking to have Sandy Springs approve a hotel in place of one of the office buildings, with construction to start next year. The 3.7-acre lot sits west of Ga. 400 and is adjacent to the Promenade at Northplace condo development. It is located at 6403 Barfield Road. There are already several hotels in the area, but Demetrops said MidCity sees demand for another one due to Mercedes-Benz USA’s new headquarters down the street and the new City Springs civic center nearby. “I believe it will be the nicest hotel west of [Ga.] 400,” he said. The original plan, under the name NorthPlace, was for two multistory buildings that have office space and retail on the bottom floor. Under the new proposal, one of those buildings would become a 7-story Aloft hotel, a brand owned by hotel chain Marriott. A hotel is allowed under the city’s new zoning rules, but the developer is to keep the original approval under the old zoning, said MidCity executive Kirk Demetrops. Demetrops said MidCity is seeking a rezoning under the old rules that would allow a hotel on that lot. The footprint is identical, and the only change is the use of one of the buildings, he said. The developer is in discussions with potential office tenants and hopes to start construction on that building at the same time, but the hotel would move forward regardless, Demetrops said. The project has been advertised as available to be custom-built for specific tenants. The project is scheduled to go before the city Planning Commission Dec. 19. This article was published by the Sandy Springs Reporter Newspaper on October 2nd, 2018 and is written by Evelyn Andrews. To read the original publication, click...
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