Buckhead Office Tower Could Rise from Grave of HiFi Buys
The rotting husk of a building that used be HiFi Buys in the Buckhead Village could soon meet its maker. Developer OliverMcMillan has plans to build a mid-rise office tower next door to its $1 billion Buckhead Atlanta project that would replace the electronic retailer's shuttered location, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. Another developer, Ben Carter, paid a whopping $16.5 million for the less-than-1-acre HiFi Buys parcel in early 2007, back when Carter's grand vision for the village's redevelopment was called "Buckhead Avenues." At the time, it was one of the highest prices ever paid per square foot ($498) for Buckhead property. Ouch.
Is Decatur Home's Unmerciful Lavishness a Buyer Repellant?
- [A frontrunner for Decatur's most baroque bathroom.]
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For a buyer who covets walkability, strong schools and the ungodly opulence of Austrian Baroque culture, this house could be a bona fide jackpot! You want a fireplace mantel buttressed by carved lion heads? Check! A lavish chandelier, randomly dangling above the kitchen sink? Check! Bathtubs girded by Romanesque columns and a billiards room with giant warthog and zebra heads? Check city! But alas, such a buyer has not emerged, and this 5,600-square-foot giant, around the corner from Dancing Goats Coffee and Chai Pani, has languished unsold for 140 days. Following a price chop last month of nearly $200,000, the new asking price is a hair shy of $1.3 million. Built in 2003, the house retains the vaguely suburban feel of that era, which means this Caesars Palace has a little Johns Creek spirit, or what the listing agent calls "magnificent antebellum-style." On the plus side, the elaborate gardens and eccentric water features are incredible enough to have their own name: "Rosehill." And the "Roman-style pool" with its breezy cabana could make Joe Schmo feel royal.
In what sounds like genuine Beltline construction progress, a structure called the Westside Trail bridge over Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is scheduled to be removed and then replaced next month. To discuss detour routes and temporary weekend road closures, Beltline officials have called a special Westside Study Group meeting tomorrow night. This harkens warm and fuzzy feelings about similar activity with one Eastside Trail bridge back in 2012, which seems like a decade ago. [Image, info via beltline.org]DeKalb Gambling Paradise Suffers Swift Kick in the Gut
For those mavericks out there hoping to enjoy some gambling in metro Atlanta following the DeKalb County Commission's approval of a 24-hour gaming resort near Lithonia, you'll be waiting a while longer. Following the advice of their lawyer, the commission has unanimously voted to pretend like the first vote never happened, reports the AJC. The move comes after the likes of Gov. Nathan Deal and other anti-gambling party poopers expressed serious displeasure at the proposal, called Panola Slopes, and its 425 gaming machines. So what's this approved plan all about?
In an interview this week with WABE, Mayor Kasim Reed reflected on his first term as mayor, his biggest accomplishments and what to expect in the next few years. Looking back, Hizzoner was quite happy to discuss the large companies such as Mercedes, Porsche and Carter's that have moved to Atlanta under his watch, though it's unclear how much of a role he played in the deals. However, when asked, he wasn't willing to comment on the pending state legislation regarding infrastructure and transportation and how it may affect the city, but did voice his rather strong opinion on the APS/Beltline kerfuffle. Oh, politics.[Image: Politico]
Massive Buckhead Lot Includes Turnkey Haunted House
Those wanting to start early on epic Halloween planning, take note. More "Walking Dead" than Buckhead, a heavily-wooded lot has hit the market complete with a derelict mansion from 1930. Rounding out the creepy factor is an old garage tucked in the woods nearby. While the listing touts the 2.88-acre site as ready for clearing, with approval to be subdivided into two lots, it seems a shame to write off this unloved home overlooking a creek. For a bargain $799,999, it's likely the home is in pretty rough shape, but for hunters of historic fixer-uppers in Buckhead, the price could be merely the first enticing detail here. Surrounding homes range from $500,000 to more than $1 million, though none offer nearly the acreage that this listing does. Maybe there's even potential to restore the existing home and add another to sell off for Buckhead-high profits. Or to create the intown answer to Netherworld.
Midtown could soon be in for a more modestly sized apartment project than the neighborhood has seen lately. The Hanover Co. has filed for permits to bulldoze a vacant little office building on West Peachtree Street to make way for Hanover Midtown, a mid-rise building with 332 units and 14,000 square feet of retail facing 10th Street. No word yet on the death knell for Midtown's Checkers. [Bisnow] [Rendering: The Hanover Company]YOO Rents; Georgia Suds; Victorian Foyer Envy
· Mary Norwood: Atlanta needs to be cleaner [BuckheadView]
· Developer: Large YOO apartments could rent for $4K [ABC]
· Regarding Georgia's 'Beer Jobs Bill' [AJC]
· Spotlighting one very cool Victorian foyer [Atlanta]
· A 'FIELD EXPERIMENT' with the Atlanta Goat Farm [CL]
· Developer: Large YOO apartments could rent for $4K [ABC]
· Regarding Georgia's 'Beer Jobs Bill' [AJC]
· Spotlighting one very cool Victorian foyer [Atlanta]
· A 'FIELD EXPERIMENT' with the Atlanta Goat Farm [CL]
This Midtown 'Townhouse in the Sky' Hankers for $595K
High within the Hanover House, an early 1970s Colony Square building that some consider a landmark, we find this $595,000 "townhouse in the sky" that the listing agent calls a "jaw-dropping … masterpiece." Superlatives aside, this is a unique, bi-level property with most of its 1972-ness purged out by recent renovations. The views don't quit, and for nearly 2,000 square feet and three bedrooms, it would hardly qualify as the priciest Midtown condo within a few square blocks. And the listed HOA fees ($100 monthly, unless that's a typo) would not be a hindrance. The electric window shades and marble floors are ritzy touches, and the half-spiral staircase with a hidden storage room beneath is just spiffy. But like the funhouse infinity mirrors in the master bathroom, the steely countertops, backsplashes and electric range in the kitchen might perturb some buyers. The layout might not have the openness of its modern counterparts, but that could be all the more reason for going outside: With Piedmont Park, MARTA stations and a bounty of dining options nearby, this condo's Walk Score is an eye-popping 89.
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A big hat-tip goes out to all the Atlanta newbies who've provided thorough, thoughtful input for the New Voices Atlanta project. For procrastinators who've received a survey but have yet to email it back, please do so no later than noon tomorrow (Wednesday). We'll be analyzing responses and crunching data for a series of posts very soon. [Staff] Details Emerge for $1B, GDOT-Orchestrated Traffic Jam
[Diagrams of the interchange overhaul. Images via GDOT.]
The Georgia Department of Transportation has announced that the largest project in Georgia highway history will kick off sometime in late 2016, according to a report by the Northside Neighbor. Estimated to cost just shy of $1 billion, GDOT expects the revamp of the Interstate 285/Ga. Highway 400 interchange to take about three long, long years. Not confined to the immediate vicinity of the interchange in Sandy Springs, work will stretch along more than four miles of I-285 and more than a mile of Ga. 400. The project promises some relief from the persistent traffic woes of the area by first causing a three-year-long traffic jam. That prolonged headache could make whatever happens in the end seem downright joyous. For a little while, at least.
The Furman Center at NYU has compiled an infographic titled "Renting in America's Largest Cities," and was kind enough to include Atlanta in that category. As of 2013, while nine of the 11 largest cities in the country had more renters than buyers, metro Atlanta (somewhat surprisingly) bucked the trend, no doubt thanks in part to cheap real estate and sprawling suburbs. However, with more people renting in the city, Atlanta saw the largest decrease, 6.1 percent, in rental vacancies; with countless apartment projects on the rise and rejuvenated interest in renting, Atlanta must be destined to join its large-city brethren as a mecca for renters in the near future, right?[Image: KV Mortgages]
Reader Devises Plan to Make MARTA Ridership Skyrocket
[Base image: Forrest A. Watson III]
It's a good sign for MARTA that Atlantans are expending their creative energies to whip up plans and graphics that — however logistically and financially impossible — could make the transit system more popular and useful. The latest big idea comes from a longtime transit proponent named Forrest A. Watson III, who calls for utilizing existing rail lines to bring MARTA where its potential user base already is. This new line, as Watson envisions it, would snake from downtown, through the Westside and on toward Buckhead, possibly linking to another large-scale proposal, the Clifton Corridor line. It brings to mind another ambitious idea — The Green Line — dreamed up by a local transit enthusiast during bouts of Snowpocalypse cabin fever last year. That U-shaped heavy rail extension would boomerang passengers from Bankhead to the Arts Center station in Midtown. Both proposals provide food for thought, if not entirely feasible game plans. Watson's proposal is laid out in the following Letter to the Editor.
Downtown Condo Touted as a Great Buy to Not Live In
When a listing's biggest selling point is that you can probably rent out the unit and gouge people on prices, one has to wonder exactly what's going on. To add to the mystery, the downtown condo, just blocks from Peachtree Center and not too far from about-to-maybe-be-awesome Underground Atlanta, is listed without photos of the actual unit. The building is definitely showing its age in the over-50 category, but for $64,222, for a 17th floor, 850-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit, some intrepid investor might snag themselves a gem. The corner unit with "amazing sunset views" comes with two dedicated parking spaces, and the building offers a pool and a gym. Really, it's hard to argue with the math, with Zillow estimating the unit could rent for more than $1,000 a month. Other listings in the same building have put the HOA at around $360 (which includes utilities), meaning even with mortgage payments, a potential owner could make a pretty penny, assuming they could rent the unit regularly. And assuming it's not a hellish, moldering mess.
A promotional flyer confirms that Atlanta's first offering from global brand YOO communities will begin construction soon at 207 13th St. in Midtown — and it gives a fresh glimpse of what's in store. Trillist Communities officials have scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony next Wednesday for "YOO on the Park," a 25-story, 245-unit luxury apartment tower between Juniper Street and Piedmont Avenue. The project is billed as a "veritable extension" of Piedmont Park, "reflecting its greenery, fitness-focus and liveliness, while adding superb luxury finishes, state-of-the-art technology and inventive, unexpected design touches." [Image via The Trillist Companies.]SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
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