perimeter285

Well since no one replied to my previous rant about Know Style in Lenox, I am OVERJOYED to say that it is now obsolete - the Know Style has closed.

I didn't intend to take a cheap shot at BellSouth. When I wrote the suburban campus thing, I was thinking that they had created the pocket park by demolishing the church, which is not correct. However, they did destroy the church and I don't know anything about the condition of the church building or its viability at the time, but there were/are plenty of places in Midtown to build a building without destroying an ornate structure. That complex just always struck me as something more appropriate for the Perimeter market than Midtown, with the mid-high rise building, a surface lot along 4th Street between P'Tree and Cypress, and then of course the massive parking structure that fills the entire block of 5th/Cypress/4th/W. Peachtree. Yes, it is disguised by retail which is great. If BellSouth was instrumental in planning the Lindbergh development, then big kudos to them for that!

After reading all the comments (on ajc.com) that Maria Saporta's column about the Midtown buildings being demolished has generated, I can't say that I blame the Baptists. Suburbia probably looked mighty fine compared to a knock-out drag-down that St. Mark has on their hands over parking. As an off-topic side note, the "new" First Baptist Church Atlanta is in an old Avon warehouse and it is about as tacky as it gets.

Okay this page of Atlanta Time Machine put a visual to Teshadoh's answer to my question. So BellSouth actually constructed their building on what used to be the church, and the pocketpark next door has always been there.

So, in a way, BellSouth got its revenge on Midtown for not being able to tear down the Fox Theater by building what is essentially a suburban campus in an urban setting. Did they really need to take the church with it? All they ended up using that land for was a pocket park, which is better than a parking lot but not better than a historic building. I never saw it, but it looks like it was a nice building - if anyone has up-close pictures, I'd like to see. Thanks for the info, Teshadoh.

Let's get a group together and lock arms around that beautiful brick building, a la the Fox Theater in the early 80's. Even if they do not succeed in tearing it down, they will just let it rot until they can say "well it's beyond repair, now" just like the owners of that old brick mansion on Peachtree near Lindbergh. I cannot believe this type of mindset is still existing within the community leaders of our city. As for St. Marks, I imagine their largely gay congregant would have a real issue with their church tearing down part of the very neighborhood that the gay community helped to revive. It's always the same excuse - parking. Speaking of Midtown churches, what ever happened to the old First Baptist Church building that used to be on Peachtree just north of the Fox Theater? Anyone know when and why it was torn down? Was there any opposition? It looks like it's just a vacant lot now if I have the location correct.

I sure would like to know who owns/runs local retailer "Know Style." They are showing up in every mall, in prime locations. They have no website so they must not be national. The latest store is in the highly-desirable former Polo Ralph Lauren store in Lenox. It's on the first level, in the middle concourse of the mall - the highest traffic area. The store is a large space and would be perfect for a great high-end retailer new to Atlanta. Yet Simon has chosen to lease the space to this Know Style store with their tacky cardboardish sign. How the heck do they afford the overhead?? In Perimeter Mall, they're in the old Forth & Towne spot. I always find it tacky when a store opens and just uses their predeccesor's layout. In other Lenox news, the relocated Pottery Barn store will, at 33,000 square feet, be the largest Pottery Barn in the chain when it opens later this year. Pottery Barn Kids will relocate to the existing Pottery Barn. J. Crew's concept Madewell is opening next to the new Pottery Barn in Lenox as well.

Tin Drum Asia Cafe will be joining the downtown restaurant lineup, taking the spot near the Flatiron Building that formerly housed a Brazilian churrascaria (Fogao Gaucho). I was surprised that Fogao lasted as long as it did.

Piedmont Park/Noguchi Playscapes History I found this history of Piedmont Park and the Noguichi Playscapes area to be interesting. The playscapes is very unique, and I hope preservations efforts do succeed.

Has anyone heard rumors that Crate and Barrel might be exploring a move from their Lenox Square location to The Shops Around Lenox in the space formerly occupied by Tower Records and CompUSA? With Buckhead's growth and the continued prosperity of Lenox Square, my opinion is that The Shops Around Lenox are underpositioned for the area. The center needs an upgrade and I wish they would make it more urban in nature, maybe an open-air center with shops surrounding a courtyard (a la Bal Harbour).

You would think that Chanel would want to be at Streets of Buckhead. If all of these retailers go through as rumored, Lenox will be a lot more like Galleria in Houston.

The info came from http://ezshopperatl.blogspot.com/

According to R&R Watch ATL, Italian jeweler and luxury goods retailer, Bvlgari (Bulgari), will be opening in Lenox Square on the lower level corner of the main corridor and Neiman Marcus wing. That's a nice addition to the mall, especially if the other tenants in my previous post also materialize.

This downtown tornado was unbelivable. I feel really bad about the 20 or so homes destroyed in Cabbagetown and the huge amount of damage to the Cotton Mill Lofts. That is such a neat area and I hate to see it damaged, along with other parts of downtown like Centennial. Thank God there were only minor injuries.

Wow, that's really neat Andrea. Where is that along 400?

Has anyone heard about the following: 1 - That Valentino has signed a letter of intent for a store in Phipps? 2 - That Chanel has signed a letter of intent for a store in Lenox? 3 - That Bally of Switzerland is moving from Lenox to Phipps and will be replaced in Lenox by a Michael Kors boutique?

The much hyped Y-3 Boutique in The Shops Around Lenox opened to great fanfare a couple of years ago. It's a hybrid upscale line of Japanese designer Yōji Yamamoto and Adidas, of which Atlanta was the first store. Apparently the hype didn't work as Atlanta's Y-3 will now become merely an outlet for the newly established stores in New York and Miami. The NY and MIA stores will carry the new season, while Atlanta's store will carry past seasons and rejects.

Article I'm surprised we haven't seen any discussion in this forum about Ben Carter's hopes to demolish the Buckhead Branch library. It may be controversial, but this building is fun. It's a nice departure from the norm - and boy are we seeing a lot of norm lately in Atlanta. Carter's Streets of Buckhead project, from what I've seen, is just as bland as Atlantic Station. No doubt that SOB is great for the city, but it is still a massive development designed by one firm. Great city streetscapes are made of a variety of different architecture that flows and gives walkers something new and exciting along the way. Everything does not have to be homogenized! I am fully confident that Carter could incorporate this neat building into the SOB project without any problem. His replacement idea for the library is laughable - built into a parking garage? Please. Why aren't all of your parking facilities for SOB underground, Mr. Carter? Take a lesson from the 12th and Midtown project. On a side note, this article makes Fulton County Commissioner Tom Lowe look like a backwoods country bumpkin. A lot of credibility he has in judging artistic merits! And Loudermilk, Chairman of Aaron Rents, has no room to talk about great buildings when the one that his company headquarters is one of Buckhead's ugliest!

I love that. I wonder who the lucky 200 included. If it is indeed the Mandarin, and one could only assume that it is, then GREAT NEWS.

Yeah at least we aren't like Miami, looking at half-built condos dotting the landscapes, going unfinished because they were built on speculation.

I think Buckhead will be fine. The Streets of Buckhead, the streetscape projects, and the other developments will only make Buckhead even more attractive to visitors. Atlanta, because of its location, amenities, and weather will continue to be a desirable place for people to move to. We might not add 900,000 people in the next 6 years like we did from 2000 - 2006, but we will still grow rapidly and I think Buckhead will continue to thrive. The only thing that is lacking is a safe, fun nightlife district...

Their sales center in Lenox Mall is still open with all the renderings showing 2 towers. I don't usually see a crowd gathered around the sales center, but the fact that it's there suggests they still plan on moving forward with the project.

They have a very casual website for an architechtural firm.

I can't imagine why Lenox Macy's would not be able to perform equally to Miami. They both pull from large trade areas and both have numerous locations in their markets. I'm really beginning to hate Macy's - they are getting a well deserved backlash to their cross-country ravaging of local department store chains.