Looking into ‘downtown’s’ future
The Sandy Springs Reporter recently invited a panel of people with an interest in the community and its future to contemplate what has happened and what might yet occur in the heart of our young city… Kirk Demetrops: I’m just going to step back and talk a little bit about the City Hall property. We can make our own plans, we can have pretty pictures, but I think we have to ask ourselves what we want it to be. Do we want it to just be a City Hall or do we want it to be a mixed-use property? I’ve heard a lot of different opinions. But we have to ask ourselves, “What should it be that will make it a catalyst?” That’s the real question. Because if we decide that it should just be a City Hall, but that it won’t be a catalyst for what we want the whole downtown to be… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...
read moreDowntown property owners form Alliance
An informal group of a dozen or more Roswell Road property owners have been meeting for about six months seeking to discover “the heart” of Sandy Springs and develop a vision for the city’s downtown or “main street.”… “Sandy Springs has the basic services, but we are looking for that next step up—some place you take your brother who comes in from out of town, the sense of community, the social interaction,” said Kirk Demetrops, principal of MidCity Real Estate Partners. “That is really the next step. It is not just retail. It is the office above it, the residential next to it…” Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...
read moreFuture looks uncertain for developer Griffin Co.
The Griffin Co., the Sandy Springs-based real estate development company, apparently is going through a potential reorganization at the least and could be dissolved, according to rumors on the street, after the unexpected death of founder Joel Griffin in late February. Among the rumors in the past week were that the company’s office was being closed, that there had been many layoffs and that Kirk Demetrops, who was named president of the company last fall, was no longer running the company… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...
read moreDeveloper Griffin dies at 62
A great visionary. Committed to his community. A true professional. An engaging, self-made man. A tremendous dreamer. Those were terms used to describe fifth-generation Atlantan and Sandy Springs civic and business leader Joel Justin Griffin, 62, who died of a heart attack at home Feb. 27. Griffin started Sandy Springs-based The Griffin Co. in 1975 to develop neighborhood shopping centers. In the early 1980s, the company pioneered office condominiums and developed six office condominium parks, totaling more than 850,000 square feet, and the landmark 20-story, 350,000-square-foot office condominium The Peachtree in Midtown… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...
read moreShipping firm forwards city $20M gift: Its Headquarters
JAS Forwarding Worldwide has purchased a 6.34-acre site on Barfield Road in Sandy Springs from The Griffin Co. for the relocation of its North American and worldwide headquarters from College Park south of Atlanta. The site, which is part of the former Cosmopolitan North office complex, includes three buildings at 6165, 6195 and 6205 Barfield Road that will be renovated — including new exteriors, building systems and interiors — for the freight-forwarding company’s 90,000-square-foot headquarters. Griffin Construction Services Inc., which along with its parent, The Griffin Co., is based at 800 Mount Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs, will be the general contractor of the more than $20 million state-of-art JAS corporate campus project, which will include the three two-story buildings, a walking and jogging trail, and lodging for some business travelers. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year… Originally Published in the Sandy Springs Reporter Read More...
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