Why hasn't the apartment boom hit downtown? (Atlanta, Buckhead: apartments, hotels)

[tonygeorgia]

It seems like to me the area around Allen Plaza and Centennial Park would be perfect for high rise apartments. It's a 15 min Marta ride to the airport, it's near the Dome, Phillips Arena, Megabus stop is nearby, Centennial Park, etc. Why hasn't the boom hit this area of downtown yet?


(Before someone comes in here and brings up the area south of Underground Atlanta, we are ONLY talking about the area list above)

[noah]

First thing that comes to mind is that Midtown offers more to the young professionals willing to pay $1,500 for a 1bedroom and there is still land in midtown to build these. Not to say the downtown spot is awful but access to nightlife, grocery etc is less compared to the heart of midtown.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

It seems like to me the area around Allen Plaza and Centennial Park would be perfect for high rise apartments. It's a 15 min Marta ride to the airport, it's near the Dome, Phillips Arena, Megabus stop is nearby, Centennial Park, etc. Why hasn't the boom hit this area of downtown yet?


(Before someone comes in here and brings up the area south of Underground Atlanta, we are ONLY talking about the area list above)

Give it some time.


Midtown has to become totally saturated, I think, before we see Downtown emerge again. Downtown will be the new frontier, eventually.

[ATLTJL]

It's a chicken and egg.

I mean, downtown has a long way to go before people will want to live there, but people have to live there before the things that will draw people start popping up.

I don't agree that it will necessarily come with time. I was in Buckhead last night and that place is really happening, the scene has just moved from Buckhead village over to the other side of Peachtree with all the little bars and pubs between West Paces Ferry and East Andrews.

So if I were a young person looking for a cool place to live, I would look to midtown but if that wasn't in the cards I would look to Buckhead before I would look to downtown.

I know the ultra liberal or whatever you want to call it segment of this board would discout that, but I say never ever EVER discount the power and allure of Buckhead. It's still nice, there are no (or very few) bad areas, it's well lit, there's tons to do, and it's upscale. If I were a betting man, I would double down on Buckhead before putting a dime on downtown.

Downtown may be a new frontier eventually. But I bet we'll be dead and buried before that frontier is crossed.

[Ant131531]

So much things change in 20 or even 10 years. Midtown was nothing like what it is now. The Midtown skyline was almost nothing in 2002. 10 years later and it can pass as a mid-large city downtown area.

Never underestimate the power of time and change. 10 years from now and Downtown can become the happening place, let alone 20 years.

Midtown needs to densify first and then downtown needs to have amenities to be able to fully serve a 24 hour community. There is still no grocery store in the downtown area.. Things like this need to get developed first before more apartments can rise in the skyline. Downtown also needs to be cleaned up...sorry, but you can't just have one area looking nice, but go down 2 blocks and now you're in a ****hole. It doesn't work that way. Fix all of downtown or most of it...not just keep half of it looking decent, then begin to allure potential renters.

[Atlwarrior]

Well for starts, Allen Plaza did have plans for another 40 plus story tower and is probadly not giving up any land, particularly for Apartments. Get serious about any development around Centennial park, it may be a bit too expenses for Apartment developers to buy land, considering that the new College Hall of Fame, and the Civil Rights Muesum are current projects being built there. For Instance, It took Coke to donate land for the Civil Rights Muesuem, so it simple may be to much to purchase land for Apartment building. Please note, that more Apartment construction is forthgoing near the Pencil Factory near the King Memorial Station, it seems like Midtown, Atlantic Station, and Downtown East Atlanta toward Imnan Park seems to be the areas for current new apartment construction. I suspect once the trolley is built new Apartments may pick up around the new College Hall of Fame, and Civil Rights Muesuem areas

[cwkimbro]

As stated Midtown has more to offer residents, but I'd also like to add really quick... Downtown is convention/event oriented! It would stink to live in the northern part of Downtown and be locked in every time there were large or multiple events in town.

I'm all for urban living, but I want to atleast be a few neighborhoods away from the major routes to the event areas.

The nice thing about Midtown is away from business core at Colony Square there is more room for large swaths of residential and retail urban infill, so people aren't necessarily living right on top of the larger office buildings.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

It's a chicken and egg.

I mean, downtown has a long way to go before people will want to live there, but people have to live there before the things that will draw people start popping up.

I don't agree that it will necessarily come with time. I was in Buckhead last night and that place is really happening, the scene has just moved from Buckhead village over to the other side of Peachtree with all the little bars and pubs between West Paces Ferry and East Andrews.

So if I were a young person looking for a cool place to live, I would look to midtown but if that wasn't in the cards I would look to Buckhead before I would look to downtown.

I know the ultra liberal or whatever you want to call it segment of this board would discout that, but I say never ever EVER discount the power and allure of Buckhead. It's still nice, there are no (or very few) bad areas, it's well lit, there's tons to do, and it's upscale. If I were a betting man, I would double down on Buckhead before putting a dime on downtown.

Downtown may be a new frontier eventually. But I bet we'll be dead and buried before that frontier is crossed.

That area has been like that for the past 20 years.

[erick295]

Think of where all the development is happening: Midtown, Buckhead, Perimeter, Cumberland, and straight on up from there. Downtown is pretty much at the edge of the world, so living there would put you as far as possible from everything else in Atlanta. Even putting that aside, try to imagine what it would be like to deal with those insane crowds every time there's an event... I think most people would lose their patience with that pretty quickly. I'm happy to leave the tourist district to the tourists.

[Ant131531]

Also, I wanted to add. Look specifically at how Manhattan is and then look how Atlanta is.

Manhattan doesn't have many residents strictly in the lower Manhattan core. Go north from there and the residential neighborhoods begin to increase dramatically and this is where you find the famous neighborhoods like Tribeca, NoHo, Greenwich Village, and Chelsea. From there north, there isnt that many people who live in the core of Midtown Manhattan, although it is more then Lower Manhattan because there's just more to do in these areas.

Atlanta doesn't have many residents in Downtown Atlanta. You can relate this to Lower Manhattan. From there north, you're in the Southern Half of Midtown in which you begin to see more apartment high rises up until 12th street. You can relate this to nieghboorhood between Downtown and Midtown Manhattan.

From there north, you're in the small, but densely built core of north Midtown Atlanta....not as much residents in this specific area, more hotels and office buildings. I guess you can relate this to Midtown Manhattan's core.

North from there, you're in Buckhead more relatable is Upper East/West Wide which is very wealthy, but much ore dense and urban then buckhead of course.

Very similar concept, just Manhattan is dense and urban throughout and a lot bigger. Point is, downtowns aren't very big for living directly in, but surrounding them generally has more urban neighborhoods with more residents.