Snellville completes first structure for new town center
Snellville has finished constructing the first of several structures that will be part of the first $95 million phase of its de facto downtown. City officials gathered this month to celebrate a “topping-out” ceremony for the 750-space parking garage that will be part of The Grove at Towne Center. The $12 million structure sits at the corner of Wisteria Drive and North Road, providing easy access to the new apartments and library branch being built. “We are continually amazed at the transformation of Snellville’s skyline as construction at The Grove at Towne Center continues,” Mayor Barbara Bender said in a news release. The Grove, developed by CASTO and MidCity Real Estate Partners, is expected to open in late 2022. The 18-acre project will include more than 50,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and entertainment space between Oak Road, Wisteria Drive, North Road and Clower Street. The new two-story branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library and about 250 units of luxury apartments are included in the development plans. The apartments will surround the deck on three sides and feature an ornamental glass staircase with views of the library, mercantile retail space and Town Green. This article first appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on December 10, 2021 by Tyler...
read moreSnellville picks MidCity as developer for $85 million Towne Center project
Snellville is partnering with two developers on an $85 million first phase of its new town center, the latest suburban Atlanta city embracing the chance to create a vibrant downtown. The Grove at Towne Center will be led by a joint venture of Casto, a more than 90-year-old real estate company based in Columbus, Ohio, and MidCity Real Estate Partners, an Atlanta firm that brought walkable, mixed-use development to downtown Alpharetta. The first phase is set to begin in 2020, depending on the development team’s ability to secure construction financing in coming months. It will include 250 apartments and over 50,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and entertainment space. Paths for pedestrians and cyclists will also connect to the Snellville Greenway. The Market Center will anchor the project. Early ideas for the building include a brew pub and upscale event space. The Commons area will also allow the city to create a public gathering space for festivals and other events. The Grove at Towne Center is a microcosm of widespread downtown revitalization underway across the country, with local examples in Alpharetta, Duluth, Suwanee, Lawrenceville and other cities. As more people return to downtowns, it’s also a reminder of how many regional power retail centers and malls that flourished in the 80s and 90s are under pressure to stay relevant with consumers. “Historically, in areas of the Northeast, the Midwest and Europe, the town center was everything,” said Kirk Demetrops, president of MidCity. “There was a 20-year trend where land was cheap, and the power centers and the malls were in vogue. There’s still room for those. But, the town center is coming back as a place that brings people together.” “We’ve been working on this for a year,” Demetrops said. “It’s a really good match for us.” This article first appeared in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on August 27th, 2019 by Douglas Sams. To see the original article, click...
read moreSnellville signs on to $85 million development with 250 apartments
Snellville leaders signed an agreement Monday to build an $85 million mixed use development as part of the Towne Center project. The Gwinnett city is entering a public-private partnership with commercial real estate company Casto and developer MidCity Real Estate Partners. The project is intended to be just the first phase of a greater development called The Grove at Towne Center. Towne Center is a separate city project intended to create a walkable space in Snellville’s center where people can live, work and enjoy recreational activities. Snellville and Gwinnett County will contribute a combined $30 million to the Grove project, city spokesman Brian Arrington said. That will cover a market building, a parking deck, a county library, work on roads and stormwater systems, and upgrades for walkability and a greenway. The Grove will include both public and private buildings, according to the city. Among them will be a new post office; the U.S. Postal Service agreed in July to move the Snellville post office from its current location on Oak Road to a city-owned former bank branch. The current post office is on land that will become the Towne Center Greenway. Plans for The Grove also include space for a library and a town green. The private buildings include space for 250 apartments and more than 50,000 square feet of commercial space that could be used for shops, restaurants or office space, according to plans released by the city. There will also be a facility called the Market Center, intended to be the project’s “anchor,” according to a city release. What will go inside has not been decided, but one suggested use for the two-story building is having a brewpub on the first floor and an event space on the second, Arrington said. Towne Center has been in the works for years, with pieces incrementally being approved by the Snellville City Council. In addition to The Grove, the city has OK’d plans for a network of walking and biking trails that will make up the Towne Center Greenway and an 88-unit senior living center that will be close to the project’s core. This article was first published in the Gwinnett County section of the The Atlatna Journal-Constitution on April 28th, 2019 and is written by Amanda C. Coyne. To read the original publication, click...
read moreWinter Construction leaving 50-story downtown tower for Chamblee
Winter Construction is leaving a 50-story downtown tower for creative office space in Chamblee. The nearly 60-year-old Atlanta company is relocating from 191 Peachtree to a small warehouse at 5616 Peachtree Road that is being renovated in downtown Chamblee. The Chamblee building will be converted into loft office space. Winter will serve as general contractor for the project. It plans to move into the building by February. “It’s the latest example of a company moving out of a class A space because they wanted a different kind of environment,” said Kirk Demetrops, president and founder of Atlanta-based MidCity Real Estate Partners. Winter’s decision comes a few months after consulting giant McKinsey & Co. said it was relocating from downtown to a $200 million project on the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail. Other companies have also moved from traditional office towers in parts of the city such as Buckhead. A joint venture between MidCity and Anchor Capital Partners acquired the 42,500-square-foot building, which is in a part of Chamblee transforming into a walkable area filled with restaurants and connected by a trail system. The joint venture paid almost $3.5 million for the property. Plans call for renovating the industrial building into a 36,500-square-foot creative office project. Chamblee is in the midst of a renaissance because it has embraced the development of apartments in vibrant mixed-use projects, Demetrops said. Many of the city’s older industrial buildings are being retrofitted, and they are attracting both companies and new restaurants to fill that space. Chamblee is also benefitting from the ongoing redevelopment of the former giant General Motors plant. The planned $2 billion Assembly Yards project is just north of where MidCity and Anchor are renovating their building. Cushman and Wakefield was the broker in the relocation of Winter to Chamblee. Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group arranged the construction loan and JV equity financing. First Citizens Bank is providing the construction loan. This article was first published in the Atlanta Business Chronical on August 19th, 2019 by Douglas Sams. To read the original publication 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...
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