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Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands Resort

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Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Island Resort

Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!

The holidays are upon us indeed. Even if it does just seem like we put the decorations away a couple weeks ago! And so the quest begins for that perfect gift for that someone special, and what to do with those holiday relatives that are coming your way.

Enter Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Island Resort. Now first as a disclaimer, I have to admit I have never made it to this event. Shame on me. But, I’m still going to tell you about it in hopes that if I don’t make this year, you’ll e-mail me pictures and I’ll post them! He He!  But this seven mile drive filled with holiday light displays is sure to put you in the holiday mood. (Some people might need a double dose this year!)  At the end of the tour, you can visit the Holiday Village for a visit with Jolly Old Saint Nick himself, hot chocolate and carnival rides and games!

If you are an adult, but still a kid at heart, and have no kids, (whew) maybe an overnight stay at the Legacy Lodge and Conference Center might be something to consider. Hey, maybe THAT’s the perfect gift you been looking for?

The festive display of lights began November 20th, and runs through December 30th, from 5-10pm Nightly. The cost is $40 per car (Monday-Thursday except December 20-25 a.k.a Holiday rush) and $60 per car Friday and Saturday (weekend rush)

Now, timing is everything, right? Well it just happens that today in my Groupon deal….it’s Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier! Check out this Groupon Offer and I hope you are able to snag this deal of only $29 per car!!!!

For more information about the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier, or a package to include that overnight getaway at Legacy Lodge, check these links!

Happy Holidays from Thomas Ramon Realty!

Selig, others, ride Kia wave in LaGrange  

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By Rachel Tobin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Selig Enterprises, one of Atlanta’s largest real estate companies, is chasing the economic wave created by Kia Motors in west Georgia. And Selig surely won’t be alone as more developers see opportunity in what is becoming a manufacturing mecca around the Korean automaker.

Kia SorentoJust as Kia recently announced it will hire another 1,000 workers, Selig and joint venture partner Standing Tree Land Co. unveiled plans for a huge retail, hotel and residential development to include an outlet mall. The $400- to $600-million project would be built on about 305 acres of rolling hills they have under contract in LaGrange.

The partnership would act as master developer for a planned outlet mall, a power center, a grocery-anchored center, a medical office building, apartments and several hotels, said Bob Riddle, an executive vice president with Selig.

“This whole thing is driven by the Kia plant,” Riddle said. “They have 3,000 employees and there were 6,000 or 7,000 second-tier employees created in the last year through Kia suppliers.”

The area also has outdated housing stock left from its textile mill days, said Jeanne Charbonneau, a spokeswoman for West Point-based Greater Valley Group. Her development firm was one of the first to plan housing, offices and shops around the plant that is near the Alabama state line.

“There’s so much opportunity, no one developer can fill the need,” she said.

Tom Hall, LaGrange’s city manager, said developers from Atlanta and Chicago visiting the area now have a greater incentive to develop there.

Voters recently approved a referendum to authorize creative funding mechanisms for economic development, such as tax allocation districts, he said. Atlanta has been using tax allocation districts for years to spur development.

“Very few TAD referendums have passed in Georgia. Ours passed by a very good margin on the promise to expand the retail base for shopping amenities and jobs,” Hall said. “All we’re doing now is fulfilling that commitment.”

LaGrange, with 30,000 residents, could use the shops, he said. Many now drive to Newnan, Columbus or Alabama to do their shopping, he said. No one opposed the project when it was presented publicly in November, he said.

The Selig group hopes TAD bond money will help pay for infrastructure improvements for the LaGrange project, Riddle said. The area around the plant loses an estimated $100 million in sales because it lacks stores, he said. And outlet malls tend to become destinations; he estimated one in LaGrange could attract up to 2 million visitors annually.

If the project moves forward on schedule, Riddle said the first store could open as early as 2013.

via ajc.com

This will be worth watching to see if it develops! I suspect with the Selig’s involved, it will!

Mass Transit in Georgia. Will We Ever Get It?

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Mass Transit in Georgia. Will We Ever Get It?

When I say “will we ever get it?” I’m referring to both if it will ever happen, AND WILL it ever happen? I’ve been putting off this blog for sometime, and will try to keep it short….but since many of our Atlanta commutes are not…..

MARTA in AtlantaI feel like in so many ways, Atlanta has already been left standing on the train platform, and the train is long gone. How’s this? I think much of the problem of mass transit in the Metro Atlanta area comes from a lack of direction. Unlike cities like Charlotte or Houston (both I just recently visited and will mention in a moment) have most, if not ALL of the city limits within ONE county. Atlanta has a 15, yes, FIFTEEN COUNTY metro area! What does that mean? Yeah, 15 ideas on what should or should not happen, or what we do or don’t want to participate in! Needless to say, with that kind of organizati0n, what can you expect.

A history of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA as we all know it now) is far to long to include in this post, but you can certainly read about it here. Needless to say, the problems began way before there was ever such a thing as Alpharetta or Mall of Georgia…those places were country..and then some. Fears around the state that funding would be simply for Atlanta kinda shows the lack of planning vision the entire state had at the time.  Can you imagine a high speed train to Athens, Augusta, Macon or even Savannah? I guess that was outer space talk back then.  The above mentioned article further goes on to talk about how it went from numerous counties down to just Fulton and DeKalb agreeing to pay for MARTA.  And oddly enough, while this discussion was taking place back in the 1050’s and 60’s, it was 1973 before the state legislature established the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee. The first part of the North-South Line opened in 1981, the last (and probably final ever piece) opened in December 2000.

So, let’s fast forward to today. It’s still a mess. I’m not even going to say I understand all the politics involved…because of course that’s probably the primary reason we’ve never got mass transit, and probably never will. Costs have now become so expensive to build, who knows if we will ever see anymore of this type of construction.

And our lack of planning for it has lead to costly losses when it comes to future funding. In January, 2010 an article appeared in the AJC, North Carolina Invests, wins rail money; Georgia Doesn’t where North Carolina won $545 million in transportation funding as part of President Obama’s high speed rail stimulus. Georgia got a whooping $750,000. Yes, you read that right.

Ok, so what do Houston and Charlotte have to do with this? A recent return visit to Houston ( I had not been there since 1996) just blew me away. Driving down freeways to and from the burbs with HOV lanes (mind you only 1) either between the freeways, or in many cases, elevated above the freeways! What a concept!! I mention only one lane, as they funnel traffic into the city center in the morning and out again in the afternoon. Another problem Atlanta has had is it’s multiple business centers (Cumberland/Galleria, Perimeter, Buckhead, Alpharetta, Gwinnett, etc) that have people living in Cobb and working in Gwinnett and living in Fayette County (yeah…get there in a minute) and working Buckhead. So you’ve got Atlanta commuters looking like a fire ant pile that has been stirred up…going every which direction. Additionally Houston has a light rail system running from Downtown, out through their Midtown, then onto the Medical Center.

Onto Charlotte where they have a light rail system that too helps bring people into Uptown Charlotte.

But, here in Atlanta, we continue to fight the concept. Just last month, an article appeared in the AJC that the Peachtree City Mayor is leading a charge for Fayette County to succeed from the 10 county Atlanta region over the possibility of being forced to pay for transit like MARTA.  The Atlanta region is scheduled to vote on a sales tax referendum for transportation in 2012.  And it took the legislature 4 years to come up with this referendum

Come on Atlanta and Georgia! We NEED transit. We need a regional transit system and we need it….ah, yesterday.

Mass Transit in Georgia. Will We Ever Get It?

Here’s a video about MARTA and it’s 30 years in the making….

MARTA Moments (30th Anniversary) from MARTA on Vimeo.

Midtown Atlanta Makeover Continues

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Midtown Atlanta Makeover Continues

Improvements to Midtown Atlanta just keep on coming! As you’ll recall, I posted a couple weeks back that some Midtown Atlanta Streets were getting a makeover. Crescent Street certainly was in need of some sprucing! But it seems that is not all that has been happening in Midtown.

Most of these streetscape improvments are designed to enhance the pedestrian experience in Midtown Atlanta while giving Midtown its own idenity. I can say from personal experience that some of the improvements below are certainly a welcome addition to Midtown.

  • Installation of new LED countdown ped-heads and traffic signals are nearing completion:  New, Ped Crossing Countdownsafer, more energy efficient signals have been installed throughout Midtown.  The Midtown Alliance received a grant from GDOT to begin this project and most recently, was awarded a second grant from the US Department of Energy to complete it.  These new signals are 80-90% more energy efficient. The new countdown crossings are great….it really helps you know how much time you have to cross the street. From a drivers perspective, it’s also like having a warning that the signal is about to change, so you can be a bit more prepared to stop. (Or some some people do, speed through the intersection on the yellow light!)
  • Streetscape projects begin on Peachtree Street from Peachtree Circle to the I-75/85 Bridge: This long-awaited phase of the Peachtree Streetscape furthers progress made between 3rd Street and West Peachtree Street.  The project was designed to extend pedestrian improvements to the north end of Peachtree Street, improve public safety and create a better balance between large volumes of vehicular traffic and a more walkable urban environment.   The project is expected to be completed in early 2011.
  • Five new traffic signals installed to create safer mobility for Midtown pedestrians and drivers: Midtown Alliance is in the process of completing construction.  Now at these intersections, traffic will move more smoothly and pedestrian crossings will be significantly safer:
    • 6th and Peachtree
    • 6th and Juniper
    • 8th and Piedmont
    • 12th and West Peachtree
    • 12th and Spring

    I can certainly tell you, that the  6th Street and 8th Street installations are going to be a welcome addition. There is a crosswalk at 6th and Peachtree, but just try to get a car to stop for you!

  • In mid-August, Midtown Alliance will assume the maintenance of the medians and planted materials on the 14th Street Bridge. A few months ago, we celebrated the re-opening of the 14th Street Bridge with our government and community partners. We can all take pride in this gateway into Midtown, representing the power of partnerships. This too will be welcomed! I’m not sure who was suppose to be maintaining them up until now, but there are already plants that have died!  And there are a few unsightly weeds starting to show….not the Welcome To Midtown we want to see!

You’ll be sure to notice these improvements underway on your next visit to Midtown Atlanta. If you live in Midtown, watch out for the construction!

Castle Building Midtown Atlanta GA Sells At Auction

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Castle Building Midtown Atlanta GA Sells At Auction

A unique, historic part of Midtown has gone across the auction block. What will now happen to this special Midtown Atlanta landmark, is anyone’s guess.

The winning bidder for The Castle Midtown Atlanta, or 87 15th St., in Midtown was Bryan Latham, a private investor from New York. He agreed to pay $951,500 for the 11,000-square-foot mixed–use property next to Promenade II office tower, according to Bull Realty partner Daniel Latshaw.

The Castle was built by its owner, Ferdinand McMillan, a wealthy Agricultural Supplier originally from Florida. He built it with no formal training and no architectural background, simply deciding to do what he thought felt right.

I pulled from a blog the following comments posted by “Phreakmoney” (just to give credit where credit is due)

“The most striking interior feature is the collection of large southern medallions gracing the corner of each of the large rooms. There are only two tiny bathrooms, one on each level. There is no obvious kitchen, nor is there infrastructure to support one, although there is a standalone sink and range in the attic. There are two sets of inadequate electrical wiring in the place: the original two-conductor cloth-covered wiring inside the ceilings and walls, still connected to the ancient bulb-fuse boxes on the top two stories; and newer 1970s+ era wiring run through unsightly (and unpainted) galvanized conduit in the hallways.”

So, she will certainly need some updating to become anything other than the Castle Building in Midtown. Suggestions have ranged from a bed and breakfast to a small museum. Knowing a bit about zoning code in Midtown, most options will be a challenge due to the lack of parking. Hopefully Mr. Latham will be able to secure that missing link from a neighboring office building.

I’m not sure it the building has already made the National Register of Historic places….let’s hope so. To give you a glimpse of the building, I recently took some pictures of the Castle Building in Midtown Atlanta.

[tomatoframe width=”600″ height=”500″]https://www.picnik.com/show/id/9610193565_B8MvB/t/the-castle-midtown-atlanta-ga[/tomatoframe]

Thom Abbott

Associate Broker, REALTOR(R)
905 Juniper Street, NE Suite 110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
770.713.1505 Direct
404.876.4901 Office

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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