perimeter285

Not good news for that block or for Midtown. I imagine this will be positioned, like Vision was, to appeal to the hip-hop cruiser crowd which does not exactly make for pleasant nightlife.

One would think, unless they're offsetting it by collecting rent from Jocks and Jills and the Thai restaurant, and then collecting a commission from the parking revenue. Even then I wouldn't think it would be enough to do any more than break even. I remember an article from a long while back in which Dewberry insisted that he was holding out for a development that would be "perfect" for the property and maximize its benefits to the area.

^^Martinman probably knows more detail, but as far as I know it is still owned by Dewberry Capital who had plans for a development called Midtown Square several years ago that never went through. They still own the land but have not made any sort of moves on it development wise, instead concentrating on their office development further up Peachtree. I agree - that land has to be one of the most coveted pieces of real estate in the city and it is a blight of surface parking right now.

^^ This is one I think we need to rally around. It's so bad that we should each consider contacting Sembler and letting them have a piece of our mind. I mean, how can they be so stuck in the dark ages as to plan a suburban strip mall in an area that is trying desparately to become a cohesive, walkable urban neighborhood. Here is their contact information: Atlanta Office 1450 South Johnson Ferry Road Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30319 Phone 404.847.1800 Fax 404.847.1818 I'm going to call and write a letter. Anyone want to join me?

Centennial Area Map Hopefully we'll get rid of these horrible parking lots to the east of Centennial Olympic Park sometime in the near future. I wish they'd put the Hard Rock Hotel there and tie it into The Tabernacle for a music-inspired entertainment complex similar to 4th Street Live in Louisville.

Sembler's Westside Village - Atlantic Station This project does not even attempt to be urban. I hate it more than I hate the Sembler project on Ponce. Nothing like suburban boxes with their expansive surface parking right in the heart of Home Park and Atlantic Station.

Thanks! Hopefully they will attempt to make it urban in design and scope.

I'm not aware of this development - where is it and what does it consist of?

^^ Thanks a lot now that you've cleared the land and made it look like a construction site that we have to look at for who knows how long. Not as bad as Cousins tearing down the building at the corner of North Ave and Peachtree for a project that now has been suspended indefinitely. Note to developers - Get your stuff together before gracing our landscape with vacant lots!

I noticed that Aqua has enhanced and highlighted their slanted line up the side of the building and the circle in the upper left with green neon. That really adds a nice touch to the building, which otherwise I'm pretty unimpressed with, at night.

I assume you're referring to Taubman's announced luxury mall project in South Forsyth?

^^ Raise your hands if you miss Vision. Not everyone at once now!

^Very cool - note the recently paved over streetcar rails. If only they had known that 60 years later, we'd be trying to find a way to put them back in.

Celeste, Looks like if you want to make a trek up to Forsyth County, you might have some luxury shopping options. The AJC is reporting that Taubman Company, developers of Orlando's Mall at Milenia and Tampa's International Plaza, are planning to build a luxury shopping mall at McFarland Pkwy (exit 12) and Georgia 400. Very interesting considering that Cousin's is developing another Avenue lifestyle center at GA 141 (Exit 13) and Thomas Enterprises is developing a luxury lifestyle center at Old Milton Parkway (Exit 10). This is all in addition to the already existing North Point mall. How much retail do we need in North Fulton/Forsyth??

So it's sounding more and more like downtown will soon have another skyscraper on the horizon in 50 AP. I am also impressed that they have the foresight to include a grocery store. Now if we could only get Aquarius built!

Not that there is anything wrong with discriminating taste. I'm glad that the Belk is nice, and it's certainly better than an empty department store, but I think we'd all agree that we would have liked to have seen something with a little more international caliber come to Phipps.

Martinman, I have to say that I get excited everytime I see that you've posted something. You are incredibly informative. Thank you.

Awesome! Legal Sea Foods has great food and will bring a nice New England flair to Atlanta. Downtown continues to impress!

If anyone else has memories of stores that used to be in Lenox (such as the Houlihans), I would love to hear them. That is always fascinating.

The Disco Kroger surface parking lot is offensively large.

Does anyone know anything about the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation? Are they always auto-friendly? There is an article today in the Atlanta Business Chronicle that talks about the region's $30 billion plan for transportation, which includes Marta rail expansion as well as a lot of commuter rail. The article was talking about how all of this rail expansion would serve a population in which "transit ridership is projected to increase less than 1 percent under an expanded system - from 3,8% of all trips to 4.7% in 2030." To which the Reason Foundation immediately replied that their $25 billion plan to expand Atlanta's interstates with toll lanes that buses could use would do far more to relieve congestion. Pfft. First of all, there are places (downtown connector for one) that the interstates really could not be expanded any more. Second of all, do we REALLY want to continue auto-based transit thought. How are they SO SURE that people will not embrace commuter rail if it is done right?

What was on that block prior to Renaissance Walk being built?

Not sure where this project might be, but there is an ad in the ABC this week that suggests that Tivoli is about to announce a new project (the image suggests a tower of some sort that would be taller than other Tivoli projects, Mezzo and Aqua). Should be interesting!

Brick can indeed be a nice facade on mid or high-rise buildings, however I find the Paces Plaza rendering to be quite bland.

What keeps Atlanta from putting parking garages underground more often? I know there is a large underground parking garage in downtown near the government complex. Why don't we do this more often? That way we don't have to look at and it doesn't affect usable space on the building's interior either. Even cities that have potential water table issues, such as Houston, have a significant amount of underground parking garages.