Why did Midtown approve this? (Atlanta: for rent, luxury, construction)

[Newsboy]

Savannah has some award-winning *public* parking garages. If the community standards are high, the design will follow.







The most amazing one of all, the Whitaker Street parking garage, 1,800 underground spaces topped by the restored Ellis Square public space.

[AcidSnake]

I guess after all this time of dealing with shoddy developers right up to the recent economic crash...metro Atlanta still hasn't gotten it together...at least not in a way that would reign in the feckless slash-&-burn & slap something together building-style typically exhibited by our local residential & commercial developers.

*sigh*

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Savannah has some award-winning *public* parking garages. If the community standards are high, the design will follow.

Fantastic examples, Newsboy!

And you are exactly right -- if the community sets the standards high and holds to them, developers will adhere to them.

I'm afraid that in Atlanta we have too often allowed ourselves to be bullied by developers who claim that it is "too expensive" or "too hard" to do things other than how they want to do them. That's baloney.

[tonygeorgia]

Here are some local examples of how it should be done

[cittic10]

All of you.

Those garages are too tall. They will block the views from those condos. Hello!!!

And what is this about powerlines!! Powerlines have that classic 1930's nostalgia about them like "timeless brick" that frankster likes so much and street cars that millions are being spent to put in. It'll be like we're going back to another era.
Powerlines complete the 1930's look that the city is going for!

Originally Posted by arjay57

Fantastic examples, Newsboy!

And you are exactly right -- if the community sets the standards high and holds to them, developers will adhere to them.

I'm afraid that in Atlanta we have too often allowed ourselves to be bullied by developers who claim that it is "too expensive" or "too hard" to do things other than how they want to do them. That's baloney.

Yeah but this is a parking garage we're talking about. There's just not that much money in it. It's not worth spending tens of millions to turn it into some John Portman abstract artwork masterpiece. If it were an office building or condo then maybe. But demanding they make it pretty, they'll probably say ... meh, I don't think so.

[pignchick]

Bottom line is that this Skyhouse and the brutalist parking lot are better than the vacant buildings and surface parking lot that existed on this site before. So let’s see... brutalist parking deck vs surface parking lot? I take the Skyhouse and the brutalist parking lot any day. This parking deck and Skyhouse is creating more density. Until Atlanta runs out of vacant lots or improves public transit than bring on more of these structures with attached parking decks to the west side of Midtown.

This Skyhouse developer built a cheap parking deck so they can rent at a price point below 77 12th. That development will have the parking deck you so desire. Not every building has to be a work of art. Let’s just hope that Skyhouse is a success, otherwise you can expect to see new construction slow down again.

And as many other have eluded too W Peachtree and Spring do not have much retail anyways, and most people are using this W Peachtree to connect either 75 or 85 northbound.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Are those ground level holes going to be turned into retail space? If so, this is one of Atlanta's better parking decks...which isn't saying much. If not, it's just a lot more wasted space, wasted money, and wasted potential.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by pignchick

[color=black][font=Verdana]Bottom line is that this Skyhouse and the brutalist parking lot are better than the vacant buildings and surface parking lot that existed on this site before. So let’s see... brutalist parking deck vs surface parking lot? I take the Skyhouse and the brutalist parking lot any day.

So is it an either/or situation? That is, a real estate developer says, "I'm putting up a concrete bunker or you live forever with vacant buildings and a surface parking lot."

Surely a city can set rules that require better development practices than that.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by arjay57

So is it an either/or situation? That is, a real estate developer says, "I'm putting up a concrete bunker or you live forever with vacant buildings and a surface parking lot."

Surely a city can set rules that require better development practices than that.

Let's not kid ourselves. Atlanta won't be getting any "good" parking decks. Just set Living Walls loose on every parking deck in town. They'll make them worth looking at.

[koko339]

I swear it looks just like the Chatham County Courthouse sans windows. Chatham County Courthouse