Old Buckhead Village + Buckhead Atlanta vs Atlantic Station (Oliver: 2013, apartment)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

What years did the shootings and drug dealing begin? I'm trying to get a better feel for Buckhead before all the clubs closed down, as most of that stuff happened before I moved down here. (Actually, when did all the club closings occur?)

The craziness started around 1999 and really burst in the scene with the murders involving the Ray Lewis entourage in 2000. After that it just got worse and worse. Killings, drive by shootings, open drug dealing, flagrant violation of liquor laws, massive cruising and trashing, vandalism, etc.

[tonygeorgia]

I just passed by Buckhead Atlanta. I was shocked that the Cheesecake Factory was still open, I thought it was closed with the ESPN Zone. I counted at least 15 stores closed that will open up once this development opens. I also counted at least 15 bars that were open. They even had another development next to the old Buckhead Theater that will probably be developed once BA gets off the ground. This area is definitely going to be the #1 area in Atlanta for shopping, dining, etc once it opens

[tonygeorgia]

Ex-ESPN Zone eyed for new Restoration

Ex-ESPN Zone eyed for new Restoration - Atlanta Business Chronicle

The former ESPN Zone in Buckhead could score a new tenant after sitting vacant for more than two years. Luxury home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware Inc. is in discussions to lease the three-story building at Peachtree and Pharr roads across from the Buckhead Atlanta project, according to people familiar with the deal.
ESPN Zone, an entertainment restaurant and bar, closed in late 2009 after opting out of its about 34,000-square-foot space in central Buckhead at 3030 Peachtree Road. ESPN had been there for nearly a decade. Atlanta businessman Peter Blum owns the building and the land but would not comment ...

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

The former ESPN Zone in Buckhead could score a new tenant after sitting vacant for more than two years. Luxury home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware Inc. is in discussions to lease the three-story building at Peachtree and Pharr roads across from the Buckhead Atlanta project, according to people familiar with the deal.

This is a perfect fit for the Buckhead village, which traditionally been a center for small retail.

[tonygeorgia]

Flyover Buckhead Atlanta OliverMcMillan Project - YouTube

[tonygeorgia]

Former Aaron's Rents CEO Robin Loudermilk and Cannon Equities' Dwight Bell have resurfaced plans for two Buckhead Village parcels as new developments: a 175k SF hotel (with 20k SF of ground-floor retail) next to the Buckhead Theater, and a mixed-use office-centric building on a parking lot at 371 East Paces Ferry Rd (up to 175k SF of office and 25k SF retail.

http://www.bisnow.com/atlanta-real-e...ng-prominence/

[tonygeorgia]

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...78378720_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...92927488_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...53099466_n.jpg

[Mal93]

the cruising that used to happen in the late 90s/turn of the millennium was quite epic, especially on holiday weekends like 4th of July or Labor Day. insane custom-painted vehicles on huge rims, massive stereos, neon, stretch anything, you name it from swats all the way to buckhead. we usually had the 27th floor room at one of the dragon-con hotels and would just stare down at the traffic all night.

I lived at 13th/Pmont when vision, one tweezy, velvet room, tongue & groove,kaya, yin yang, esso were all in their heyday,and opera was getting started--there were lines of people,mostly dressed well (as opposed to, barely covering flesh) snaking from 12th down to Peachtree Pine. There was an element of glamour and prestige, with incredible djs dropping in and celebrities were actual celebrities (anyone remember prince's crazy afterparties? madonna at the all-star game events?), not d-list d-cups off cable tv and their wannabe boys.

little of the midtown clubs were my scene except for certain events/nights, but I could tell there was a definite downturn. The drugs not only were prolific, but seemed to make everyone more aggressive than euphoric; and then there were the more criminal elements attracted to that (all backgrounds!). hearing gunshots every night at 4am as the clubs let out and having to clean the midtown sidewalks of drug baggies so your dog didn't eat them on the morning walk got very tiring after awhile.

As for daytime Buckhead, I used to love to go the the old punk store search&destroy in buckhead village,just past the roswell rd/ptree split for doc martens and fluevogs. Fantasyland records was always a great place to find rare alternative, classic jazz & psychedelic wax. I spent an inordinate amount of money on importing cds from Japan & the UK at Tower Records ($60-$90 each, far cry from downloading for free!). Loved the skate wing at Brasserie le Cose at Lenox and glad to have F&B back in the area. There have always been tiny luxurious shops for specific goods around the area, from a rug store selling 80s Afghani War rugs with an authentic yurt inside the shop, to the beloved rare book shops on Miami Circle/bindery at Oxford Comics, and of course, the highly lamented and missed trio of Oxford Book stores. Out of sheer curiousity I did pay the $6 for the "all day entrance" to the Buckhead Cinema (as a single 20 yr old female college student!!). There were a few old men in the theatre, and it was as surreal as watching a Lynch film: utterly blurry pastel shapes that no longer resembled bodies, and an ancient soundtrack that was warbly beyond recognition. You could not tell that anything x rated was going on, but it was rather trippy and strange. I stayed until one of the old men decided to stand next to me (as in, about 2 minutes later!), so I left quickly! Always thought it was funny it became a police precinct later.

The strip of Buckhead further down Peachtree by Pharr was my most common hangout: Fellini's, LaFonda, Fantasyland records, and Garden Hills Cinema were part of my shopping / eating rounds during the day, and you were right up the road from the round Oxford bookstore that also rented out art cinema videotapes.
Cafe Tu Tu Tango and the old yakitori shack behind genki were always good late-night snacks. The nightlife was way too frat-sorority-drunk partying for me,but it seems like ATL made it a point to have a "party zone" whether it be Underground in the 70s, Buckhead&Midtown clubs in the 80s-90s, and the Crescent Ave/EAV scene in the 2000s.

Buckhead seemed to definitely be a scene of contrasts for me, as the old money was obvious but the party drew people from all over. For some friends who were more preppy than me, it was almost a rite of passage to nibble on Henri's cheese straws while taking tea outside the Swan Coach House, then down a $5 huge fishbowl of fruity liquor from Lulu's baitshack balcony twelve hours later.

The restrictions on age to get into clubs/live venues put a damper on things for my crowd in the early 90s (GA Tech student that drowned after a night out), and the alcohol laws getting revised/cruising crackdown definitely put the nail in the coffin for Buckhead and the Midtown/Peachtree scene in the 2000s. At least nowadays there are easier ways to find alternate methods to get home safely, and more options for (clean) places to crash after a long night out.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

This only happened toward the end of Buckhead Village's life.

In the early/mid 90s, I understand it was pretty much exclusively white frat boys and sorority girls. At least, that's what it was famous for. When I first moved here in 1996, I never even went. I avoided Buckhead because I had no interest in hanging out with these people.

I went for the first time in 2000 and thought it was great. I found it to be a little bit mixed. It was mostly white, but not just frat boys, there were all types represented. There was some diversity as well, but it was still college types, people in college and others recently out. There certainly wasn't much of the "never been to college" crowd.

Over the next few years, it changed over time, slowly becoming more populated with the non-college and non-college friendly crowd and hip hop became more predominant. It eventually got to the point where whites were a minority, which was probably due to the escalating crime problem and around this time more and more was beginning to happen in midtown.

Eventually, the city got so sick of the problems that they shut it down. Actually, they were under pressure from a few outspoken business leaders who formed a community improvement district there. APD had long since been fatigued and given up patrolling Buckhead anyway, though, so it's no wonder that crime got out of hand. They tried to implement "no cruising" rules, but it didn't work and that's why you saw those ridiculous cars.

Seeing the opportunity to line their own pockets, the city passed an ordinance forcing bars to stop serving at 2:30am and close at 3:00am, but of course they gave a special exception to Underground because the city owned it. Underground, though, was such a trainwreck that even alcohol exclusivity for an hour couldn't convince people to go there, so it just folded or became whatever useless thing it is today.

There is a reason that you saw this transformation. Originally, the Buckhead Bar District was a haven for white college fraternity and sororority types in the early 1990's. However, these bars were busy only three nights a week (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), yet the bar owners were paying exorbitant rents. So, the bar owners started advertising on urban radio stations to get business on other nights of the week. They specifically, advertised that "Sunday Night is your night in Buckhead." This was a very successful campaign and the bars then became busy other nights of the week with a large black clientele. (They even advertised to strippers, bar tenders and folks in the entertainment industry.) However, the black clientele began partonizing the clubs on the weekend, too. There were nine murders in a two year period (The Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens case was the most prominent) and there began a call to crack down on the crime and bring the closing time back to 2 AM. This resulted in cries of racism. At the end of it all, it planted the seeds to get rid of the bar district which is what has been the main result. The original "Streets of Buckhead Atlanta" was advertised as being the next Rodeo Drive. It appears it will be a far cry form that.

[ATL_II_DMV]

Originally Posted by Adric

They began to close out in 2006/2007.

I first arrived in Atlanta in 2004 right before everything in the Buckhead village was aquired for Streets if Buckhead. I never got a chance to go to any of the bars or clubs there but I remember that whole area being gridlocked every weekend with some of the most ridiculous cars I had ever seen (some had rims that were worth more than the car itself) and hip hop being blared everywhere. There hasn't been anything similar in Atlanta since.

I think Buckhead Atlanta will be the outdoor equivalent of Phipps (not very busy but so upscale that if a store makes one sale, they just made enough money to pay their rent on the space) while Atlantic Station will be like Lenox (not as upscale as Phpps but still really nice and much more busy).

Yeah, the city officials started to crack down on Buckhead Village then. Police started harassing people 2 O'clock sharp. Atl also recently brought the club closing time to 2:00 (or 3) a.m. around that time.

The BMF crew were always present in the ATL nightlife and after the shootout outside of a Buckhead club in late '03, ATL nightlife was never the same.

I've been looking at condos in Atlantic Station lately, they're going for ridiculously low prices. I wonder what the downside is to living in Atlantic Station if u can find a deal low enough that the condo can't possibly drop any lower.

Anyone know what types of residents have been moving into the various condos there? I've been looking at "12 Atlantic Station"