Random Topics Archives - Page 4 of 29 -

Embassy Suites Atlantic Station Moves Forward

May 23, 2018 by Thom Abbott

Once upon a time, lodging options in the Midtown area were pretty sparse. You either went luxury or almost nothing else. Fast forward to 2018, and you have numerous hotels to choose from, and several new options on the horizon. Embassy Suites Atlantic Station will be one of those new options.

Embassy Suites Atlantic Station Moves Forward

Horizon Hospitality Management has filed a permit application with the City of Atlanta for a 10-story high rise building, next to The Atlantic Condominiums at 200 17th Street. The photo to the right shows what I think will be the location of the property, based on the renderings provided in an article at WhatnowAtlanta.com. There is a possibility the site could be next to the tennis courts that are alongside The Atlantic.

Details mention 175 rooms taking up some 145,020 square feet and potentially a “high end steakhouse” fronting 17th Street. Hmmmm…steak. Designed by Mike Clifford of the Atlanta-based firm of LPBC, the project could break ground later this year and be ready for guests by 2020. (Remember, 2000 and we thought how is that possible, and now we are talking about 2020!!!!)

While North of the campus, this hotel would be another option for guests and parents visiting Georgia Tech.

Below is a rending of the proposed Embassy Suites Atlantic Station, as well as a couple site photos I snapped today. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one!

Currently, the only other hotel at Atlantic Station is the Twelve Hotel.

Will Atlanta See A Regional Transit System

March 7, 2018 by Thom Abbott

That’s the billion-plus dollar question for sure….

Will Atlanta See A Regional Transit System

If you are fortunate enough to live in Midtown, you may get more use out of the current MARTA system than others due. If you think about it…if you live in John’s Creek for example, by the time you would drive your car to the Doraville (Or Chamblee) MARTA station, park, and then continue your commute to work via transit, you probably would get there in the same amount of time if you just stayed in your car.

And…what if you live in Duluth, and work in the Cumberland area? Well, you’re just plain out of luck.

I came across this article in the Saporta Report. It talks about the challenges I’ve known for a long, long time. There are to many people (in this case jurisdictions) involved to get anything done on a regional basis. The need for a TRUE regional transit authority and system is really a key to the future of Atlanta. It’s future being you don’t spend 3 hours in your car each way to work if you have to live in the suburbs.

As Brian says in the article, ” Currently a transit line from the Cumberland Business District to Duluth would require crossing four different counties and three different transit systems. First, state funds should be prioritized for regionally-important projects that serve multiple jurisdictions. Even with these bills, the majority of transit funding will continue to come from local sales taxes, and individual counties are unlikely to prioritize projects that span multiple jurisdictions. A transit line from Cobb County to Gwinnett County is incredibly important to the region, but none of the four counties involved can build the project on their own. The ATL should ensure that sufficient funding is available for regionally-significant projects.”

And I’m not forgetting the way-out areas either. Imagine high speed rail from places like Columbus or Macon where people would have a option (and a quick one) to get to Metro Atlanta for work, without having to pay the cost of living in this city. Ah….one can dream right?

Will Atlanta see a Regional Transit System?

The article from Brian Gist, Senior Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center can be found HERE.

Citizens For Progressive Transit January Newsletter

January 21, 2018 by Thom Abbott

We know that transit is a major buzz word around Metro Atlanta (and the state of Georgia) these days. Sadly, city and state leaders have lagged behind in taking much action on this. But the time is now. 72% of Georgia voters want state funding to expand mass transit.

I’ve attached a monthly newsletter from the organization Citizens for Progressive Transit. It has some GREAT articles. Like the mention of the decline of Georgia’s rural population and economy. TEN YEARS ago the GA DOT discussed regional passenger trains that would like these smaller cities to Atlanta. CAn you EVEN imagine being able to live 2 hours outside of Atlanta and ride a train into the city?

Transportation Camp South 2018

Also mentioned is Transportation Camp South which will take place February 24th at Georgia Tech. The annual event brings planners, scholars and activists together for a day of learning. You can find more information on their Facebook Page.

We plan to be there this year to keep a pulse on this important conversation for Atlanta AND Georgia.

You can find the January 2018 Citizens For Progressive Transit Newsletter HERE.

North American Properties Mark Toro

January 17, 2018 by Thom Abbott

Atlanta certainly has numerous “movers and shakers” when it comes to real estate development. My good friend Scott Selig, who recently passed, is one of them. Steve Baile, also with Selig Enterprises is another. But one individual that I have always been impressed with is Mark Toro from North American Properties.

If you’ve not seen Avalon in Alpharetta….hope in the car and go. A development that barely got started, and then the market crashed. North American Properties came in and it’s amazing what is there now.

Come a little bit closer to “home” and North American Properties successfully repositioned Atlantic Station, and has since sold the retail development to another group. Now, Mark and his team are working to transform Colony Square into the next great Midtown place to be!

Atlanta Magazine, in 2015, named Mark Toro as one of the “55 Most Influential Atlantans.”

Additionally, North American Properties has been tapped to develop a mixed-used project around the Infinite Energy Center in Gwinnett County, some 30 miles from Midtown Atlanta. This is a unique public/private project, being built on land Gwinnett County owns. (The parking lots around the Arena will become garages and mixed-use buildings!

Mark is a Midtown Atlanta resident, and serves on the Midtown Alliance’s Executive Committee.

Bisnow, a business publication recently published an interview with Mark Toro, which you can find HERE.

Thanks Mark, for all that you have done, and are doing for Midtown Atlanta and beyond!

Four Housing Predictions for 2018

January 2, 2018 by Thom Abbott

Hey, it’s a New Year, right? And with it comes all kinds of predictions. Now some of them may be personal in nature, like I predict I will make the change in my routine to get to the gym more often.

Of course, those predictions don’t matter to you! But Four Housing Predictions for 2018 just might.

A recent article from HousingWire cites low inventory and rising home prices along with some other factors. The four predictions are:

The historically tight supply of single-family homes will tighten further in 2018 after hitting a record low in November 2017
The national home price boom that began in mid-2012, will continue, and given the unprecedented low levels of inventory, will even accelerate further
First-time buyers will face even higher home price gains for entry level homes
First-time buyers will continue take on even more leverage in an effort to keep up with the out-sized home price gains on entry level homes

Now first of, remember that real estate is local, local, local. So what is happening in Minneapolis may not be the same as Midtown Atlanta, nor would what’s happening in Cumming be the same as College Park. But experience does tell us that most of these are probably on track. There is a difference amongst professionals about how fast home prices will increase in the next year. Some say faster in 2018, and others say it will slow down.

Certainly in the Atlanta market, we can cite low inventory, a low days on market, and a challenge for first-time buyers to find a condo (In Midtown/Buckhead areas) or home they can afford. Prices certainly have gone up although not as dramatic as they have been. But I have seen homes realize appreciation like this:

If you are looking to buy or sell, whether in 1 month or 1 year, sit down with a real estate professional, like myself, and talk about the market, your plans, what you are looking for and be more informed as to what your options may be. Understand, things can change in a year, but at least you have some ideas.

For the details about the Four Housing Predictions for 2018, read the rest of the article HERE

The Mark at Atlanta Will Bring More Student Apartments to Midtown

November 15, 2017 by Thom Abbott

Another proposed apartment building will offer more off-campus apartments for students at Georgia Tech, and possibly SCAD. The Mark at Atlanta will eat up some more surface parking as well as three buildings.

Landmark Properties and City Life Development Partners have proposed a 28-story apartment building at the corner of Spring and 10th Streets. This is across the street from Hanover West Midtown (once upon a time the Checker’s Drive In Restaurant). This new site is a surface parking lot, Domino’s Pizza, a small old apartment building and a doctor’s office. (See Map elsewhere in this article)

The Mark at Atlanta will have 18 floors of residences, 9 levels of parking for 380 cars and street-level retail on 10th Street as well as Spring Street. (And people said nothing will happen on Spring Street…..yeah!)

This building will join SQ5 and University House that have already been built just South of this site…and further South, the under-construction The Standard. There is some market for student housing obviously in the Georgia Tech area.

Aqua Condos and The Mark at Atlanta — Aqua “04” Balconies on the left corner

While further from the SCAD campus, it might offer housing options for those students as well.

What will be challenging, is the residents that live in Aqua Condominiums, just next door. For those that own one of the “04” Stack on the West side of the building…their balconies will pretty much look right into this building! Yikes! But, I’ve always told condo buyers, that as long as there are vacant lots, or low-rise businesses on a site, they are prime to be taken for future development. And now we see it once again!

With Aqua being 25 stories, and the new building at 28, they will be neck and neck. The new site has slope to it, so the actual line-up between the two buildings remains to be seen.

The project came back through the Midtown Alliance’s Design Review Committee (DRC) on November 14, 2017. The notes from their second review of the project:

The Midtown Development Review Committee (DRC) saw a follow-up presentation for a student housing project proposed by CityLife Development Partners and Landmark Development. “The Mark at Atlanta” was presented previously in October and the committee requested more information related to the retail layout on 10th Street and the vehicular access and loading on Peachtree Place. They also recommended that the developer meet with residents of the adjacent condo tower, Aqua, to discuss concerns related to access and quality of life issues such as noise and site lines into the parking structure. Since then, the development team made significant strides in addressing all identified concerns apart from the main sticking point involving a proposed curb cut on 10th Street. The DRC was not supportive of a variation to allow the curb cut on 10th Street due to the negative impact it would have on traffic flow along this corridor and the potential for traffic and pedestrian conflicts given its proximity to an existing curb cut on the adjacent property. Further, 10th Street is viewed as a preferred location for retail and restaurant space and removing the curb cut allows more opportunity to activate the street level with those types of uses. The committee recommended an alternative location for the curb cut on Spring Street. The development team is exploring this option and other modifications and intends to proceed with an electronic review before the end of the year.

Embassy Suites Atlantic Station Moves Forward

Will Atlanta See A Regional Transit System

Transportation Camp South 2018

You can find the January 2018 Citizens For Progressive Transit Newsletter HERE.

PalmerHouse Properties