Atlanta Condos For Sale

Food Halls and Apartments – Can Atlanta BE Creative?

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NOTE:  This is an editorial-type blog post….with my thoughts. 

Food Halls and Apartments – Can Atlanta BE Creative?

Food Halls in Midtown AtlantaI have numerous sources of information that I review daily. I find articles that I think MY readers will find of interest, and I use social media to share them….Facebook, Facebook Business, Instagram and Twitter. It’s not all about real estate, but about the lifestyle in the markets or communities I serve. I want you to know that I’m knowledgeable, but also that I can share with you the cool things about why you should, or would want, to live there.

Apartment Construction MidtownAnd I look at the big picture. Like the Midtown Skyline with its square buildings. Seriously!! Look at most of the buildings being built now. Square, glass blocks. Nothing creative. Well maybe NCR. But the rest of them. Certainly nothing to drewl over. Gosh, if I was a developer, I’d be asking my architect to design me a building that when people were driving the Downtown Connector and looking at the skyline, they would be saying, “WOW…look at that building!” 

Currently, Atlanta (in general) is all about Food Halls and Apartments. It’s our rage, if you will. A Food Hall will anchor the redevelopment of Colony Square. A Food Hall will be part of the CODA building near GATech. A food hall even way out in Alpharetta at some development who’s name escapes me at the moment. 

Everywhere you look…you see those cranes? 90% of them are building FOR RENT apartments, not anything you can buy. I always wonder what that does to a community? So many residents with no “roots?” Do you HAVE to own a home or condo to have roots in a community? I suppose not, but I certainly think you have a more vested interest in a community when you “own” a part of it. 

So when will Atlanta hit the “apartment crash?” I mean, it really has to be coming. It’s not like we have an Amazon moving to Atlanta every month….and so many jobs to provide the people to fill all these apartments? But, I guess the developers know better than I, right? Ah…not so fast. 

I can remember standing on Peachtree Street looking North and saying, “all this construction is great, but where are all the people coming from to buy all these condos?” And a year or so later…well…you know how that story ended. 

How come we can’t create something unique? I read once that Yumbi was going to open a restaurant in a shipping container....never saw it happen. Are we becoming a boring place to be? I’d like to think not…with all the cool tech start-ups and all that are happening in Midtown. 

I just wonder where the next Food Hall or apartment building will be.

Colony Square Announces Plans for Main and Main

THE COLLECTIVE, ATLANTA’S LATEST FOOD HALL

Midtown and the Midtown Alliance

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Midtown AllianceAs I’m on the streets of Midtown Atlanta daily, and especially when I’m on a balcony of a high-rise building, I can certainly look back and remember when __________(fill in the blank) was a vacant lot. But when you talk with a prospective buyer who has never been in Midtown before, they may not realize just how much it’s changed. 

Midtown Alliance and the Midtown Improvement District

Just like train or a car that need an engine to power them, so does economic development. One of the ways this can happen is through a community improvement district (CID). Midtown happens to call theirs the Midtown Improvement District. What’s so important about this?

A CID is a mechanism whereby the property owners agree to self-tax themselves in order to fund infrastructure improvements to a certain area. They establish the boundary and then work to improve that area. (This is a very simplistic explanation of what a CID is. (The Midtown Alliance has more information on their website)

What Has The Midtown Alliance Done in Midtown?

Hmmm…

  • 1000+ new street trees
  • 15+ miles of sidewalk improvements
  • Keeping Midtown Clean and Green
  • $9M of public improvement projects
  • New public art
  • 3,500 light poles

The list goes on, and on. 

And there are social events to engage the residents. Active social media presence on Facebook and Instagram to keep tabs on what’s going on!

In just a 1.2 square mile where the Improvement District functions, look at all that has happened…

Thanks Midtown Alliance!

Midtown Atlanta and Midtown Alliance

AC/Moxy Hotel Midtown Atlanta Starts Vertical Climb

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Well gasp! Not EVERY crane in Midtown Atlanta is a rental apartment building. (Mind you that is probably 75-80% of them!) One of those cranes is on 14th Street and belongs to the AC/Moxy Hotel Midtown Atlanta! 

AC/Moxy Hotel Midtown Atlanta Starts Vertical Climb

Marriott AC Moxy Hotel Midtown AtlantaI think I missed getting photos of this parking lot before the construction started on the parking lot between the Four Seasons and the Marriott Suites hotel. But as Curbed Atlanta has reported, we are starting to see columns rise as this hotel gets under way! This unique hotel combo concept is being developed by Noble Investment Group and is a $70 million project!

As reported in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, this will be the first ever combination of the two hotels. The AC Hotel is a contemporary European-inspired property while Moxy is aimed at the Millennial traveler with lower priced rooms and smaller in size. AC will have 155 rooms and Moxy will be 133. 

Look to see guests checking into this cool space sometime in 2018. 

The hotels will share an amenity deck with a rooftop pool and bar! (I like the sounds of that…’cept for the hotel bar pricing?) Maybe it will be a new hot spot in Midtown! 

You can learn more about Moxy Hotels HERE! And you can see the long list of properties scheduled to open, including locations like Minneapolis, Denver, Nashville and Washington, DC…just to name a few!

Check out more information about AC Hotels HERE! Lots of locations in the U.S. including Phipps Plaza Buckhead and Downtown Atlanta for a local view. (Reminds me…I need to pop into one of these and do a follow up report, don’t I?)

15th Street Extension Midtown Atlanta Seeks Engineers

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As Midtown Atlanta grows, and grows….and grows, it’s a simple fact that not everyone that works in Midtown will LIVE in Midtown. (Sad, but true!) And getting around on the streets is a big factor. Enter the 15th Street Extension.

This gap in the Midtown Street grid from West Peachtree Street to Williams Street might not seem like a big deal..but with all the development happening now along West Peachtree Street, this is a street that is needed!

15th Street Extension

This map does not show the new AMLI Midtown apartment building that is about to open on the parking lot with all the cars in it. (See the star) Overall, this extension will be MOST helpful to many residents and Midtown workers alike to get to Williams Street, an one-way Northbound that helps commuters gain access to I-75 North. 

15th Street Extension

The project will include new traffic signals, sidewalks, streetscaping and bike lanes. You can see the Arts Center MARTA station in the upper right. Also, long, long term plans call for another bridge across the Downtown Connector, with 15th Street adding additional connectivity to West Midtown. 

Nothing happens quickly with road construction however. According to Kevin Green, Midtown Alliance President and CEO, the environmental studies for the project could take two years, followed by 12-18 months of construction. That sounds about like 2021, right? Sigh. 

While we try to keep up with all that is Midtown Atlanta…and there is plenty happening these days….you might want to check out the Midtown Alliance website for LOTS of things that are Midtown Atlanta!

 

Total System Services to expand in Midtown Atlanta

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Total Systems Services to expands Midtown AtlantaTotal System Services, the Columbus, GA based company that allows for online payments on probably many of the sites you use, is expanding in Midtown Atlanta! 

A global provider of payment services, Total System Services (TSYS) plans to lease about 10,000 square feet — or half a floor — at One Atlantic Center, according to a report in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. One Atlantic center is the building with the point on top in the drawing to the right.

Eventually, about 30 people will be based out of the space that will primarily serve as meeting space for TSYS employees from offices in Kennesaw, Alpharetta and McDonough. Potential clients will find access from the Atlanta airport to the Midtown office via MARTA waaaaay easier than reaching any of the aforementioned locations!~

There space will be about 1/2 of a floor in the Midtown highrise, located at 14th and West Peachtree Streets. This corner of Midtown Atlanta is seeing lots of activity with the addition of The Atlantic House Apartment building, along with construction by Northside Hospital and the up-and-coming Apogee apartment building.

Those 30 some employees might want to look at Midtown Atlanta, or the surrounding areas as a living option! We can certainly help them find a rental apartment, or even put firmer roots in Midtown with a home purchase!  

Honeywell Home & Business Technologies HQ to Midtown Atlanta

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midtown atlanta skyline Bank of AmericaWe are always excited when we hear of new corporate relocations to Midtown Atlanta. And the announcement that Honeywell is bringing their Home & Business Technologies HQ to Midtown is no exception!!!

Honeywell Home & Business Technologies HQ to Midtown Atlanta

Honeywell International announced on Monday that it’s Home & Business Technologies headquarters will move from Morris Plains, NJ, to Midtown Atlanta. The move, coupled with a “first-of-a-kind North American software development center,” will create about 800 jobs in Midtown Atlanta!

Midtown’s Bank of America building is said to be a favorite to land the project. As the Midtown center grows, they will develop aerospace, automation and control solutions software. (The Bank of America Building is the tall building in the center of the photo on the right!)

As these employees look to relocate from New Jersey to Atlanta, we are excited to help them find opportunities in Midtown Atlanta, and the surrounding communities. Midtown Atlanta is one of the most walkable locations to live in Atlanta! Honeywell employees will have numerous condominium and apartment buildings to choose from. Looking for a single family home? From Midtown, to Buckhead, Druid Hills, Brookhaven, or Chamblee..there are lots of choices.

If looking to be near MARTA transit, which the North Avenue station is just across the street from the B of A Building, then Buckhead, Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville are all great options to consider, depending on price, size and style of home you are looking for!

This is also great news for the Bank of America Building which has some empty floors to fill up!

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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