Midtown poised for unprecedented residential boom (SLIDESHOW) (Atlanta, Smyrna: middle-class, 2014)

[LynnHarris]

"An unprecedented number of residential units are slated for construction in Midtown.

Midtown has never seen so many proposed residential projects at once. And more continue to enter the pipeline.

Midtown reflects the growing desire among residents to live near MARTA train stations and have access to walkable streets and cultural amenities such as the Woodruff Arts Center and Georgia Tech..."

Full Story: Midtown poised for unprecedented residential boom (SLIDESHOW) - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[netdragon]

This is horrible for both Atlanta the metro area. It's going to cause new bloat, drive down condo prices, and hurt downtown renovation efforts, Buckhead, Perimeter Center, and Cumberland. Just as the condo bloat was cleared out in the North metro. Developers in areas outside of midtown better get their funding this year, or they are out of luck.

[AtlantaComment]

Originally Posted by netdragon

This is horrible for both Atlanta the metro area. It's going to cause new bloat, drive down condo prices, and hurt downtown renovation efforts, Buckhead, Perimeter Center, and Cumberland. Just as the condo bloat was cleared out in the North metro. Developers in areas outside of midtown better get their funding this year, or they are out of luck.

what a poorly thought out and shortsighted view of things.

More residential being built in Midtown will strengthen the tax base, increase the pace of gentrification intown and increase the amount of economic activity (retail/services etc). Additional residents moving into areas which were formerly vacant lots will increase footfalls and help to reduce crime. Hard to find many negatives about this news at all. Also note that this boom is overstated at this point - only a few projects are actually under construction.


As far as the nonsensical whining about developers elsewhere needing funding this is a total non sequitur. There isnt some finite pool of funding designated solely for the Atlanta metro with some going to the Buckhead or Midtown pot at the expense of other areas. There is a vast amount of capital out there nowadays searching for a return so if any project can stand on its own merits it can get funded, be it highrises in midtown or townhouses in Smyrna or tract housing out in the exurbs.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

what a poorly thought out and shortsighted view of things.

To show you don't understand the market and say something as ridiculous as this. Please stop the high-rise and mid-rise cheer-leading and learn about the market so you can make informed statements.

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

More residential being built in Midtown will strengthen the tax base, increase the pace of gentrification intown and increase the amount of economic activity (retail/services etc).

You obviously don't understand market effects. It'll have the exact opposite effect on gentrification short-term.

IF they weren't built like madmen in midtown, there would be more demand to develop in areas you want to see gentrified. When they excessively develop condos in midtown, there will be less demand for the rest of intown. The people buying condos are people that can't buy anything anywhere else once they do so. People renting condos that go up for rent - and many will - are people that can't rent anywhere else during that time.

Let's ignore the North metro for a while. Explain to me how excessive condos and apartments in midtown helps areas like Westview and Old Fourth Ward. It doesn't. It hurts those markets.

A shortage in midtown and high prices in midtown would help those areas, not the reverse.

I don't think we should want to wait 5-10 years for people to move out of the condos into single family homes in Mechanicsville. I'd rather see them build the condos in Mechanicsville in the first place.

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

Additional residents moving into areas which were formerly vacant lots will increase footfalls and help to reduce crime.

Yes, there's a lot of high-crime vacant lots in midtown.

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

As far as the nonsensical whining about developers elsewhere needing funding this is a total non sequitur. There isnt some finite pool of funding designated solely for the Atlanta metro with some going to the Buckhead or Midtown pot at the expense of other areas. There is a vast amount of capital out there nowadays searching for a return so if any project can stand on its own merits it can get funded, be it highrises in midtown or townhouses in Smyrna or tract housing out in the exurbs.

Again, you don't understand the market. Yes, there is a finite pool of funding, and this has happened many times in the past, caused by midtown and Buckhead. It goes like this: Too many condos are built in midtown and Buckhead, and there's too many condos on the market. Condos become too cheap in midtown, Buckhead and the North metro to warrant more development. Developers can't get funding for condos. Then they start

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

There is a vast amount of capital out there nowadays searching for a return so if any project can stand on its own merits it can get funded, be it highrises in midtown or townhouses in Smyrna

A condo project can't stand on its own when the market is destroyed for condos. Am I concerned about townhouses in Smyrna or tract housing in the exurbs? No. I'm talking about the condo market. Additionally, the intown market will be destroyed for more than condos.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by netdragon

This is horrible for both Atlanta the metro area. It's going to cause new bloat, drive down condo prices, and hurt downtown renovation efforts, Buckhead, Perimeter Center, and Cumberland. Just as the condo bloat was cleared out in the North metro. Developers in areas outside of midtown better get their funding this year, or they are out of luck.

There is obviously a demand for rentals in this area. Look at the ones recently completed, they have filled up.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by cqholt

There is obviously a demand for rentals in this area. Look at the ones recently completed, they have filled up.

I'd rather the rental absorption go completely into intown neighborhoods and fill vacancies, not midtown. With prices high in midtown, it's a perfect opportunity to gentrify intown.

Additionally, I hope this is mostly NOT condos, and mostly rentals, but I'm skeptical. I figure before the day is done they will go down the slippery slope they went down before. It'll only take a couple high-rise condo towers to kill the market. The mention that there are any condos planned in midtown, even if the residential boom will be primarily apartments, scares me.

[AtlantaComment]

Originally Posted by netdragon

You obviously don't understand market effects.

Explain to me how excessive condos and apartments in midtown helps areas like Westview and Mechanicsville.

A shortage in midtown and high prices in midtown would help those areas, not the reverse.

It will potentially add to gentrification 5-10 years from now, but the short term damage will be much greater.



Yes, there's a lot of high-crime vacant lots in midtown.

??

Very simple explanation is as follows:

Empty parking lot in midtown is turned into highrise apartments. Tax revenues from said new high rise are much higher than the previous use while additional service demands are modest so new high rise is a net revenue gain for the city. This new net tax revenue helps to fund the police force and other services which helps to benefit the residents (and landlords!) of Westview/Mechanicsville and other bad areas. In addition the influx of hundreds of new residents on a lot which formerly had zero residents will generate further economic activity and additional tax revenues far in excess of the previous.

Fulton property tax assessments are readily available online, go check the value of a surface parking lot vs and adjacent developed high rise and let me know what you find. At this rate we may even be able to fund your "bait house" concept!

As far as your requested shortage, yes clearly we need some shortage of housing in Midtown, perhaps we should even add some new vacant lots to midtown to increase scarcity! Using your strange logic this would somehow be beneficial to both midtown and Westview and Mechanicsville.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by AtlantaComment

This new net tax revenue helps to fund the police force and other services which helps to benefit the residents (and landlords!) of Westview/Mechanicsville and other bad areas.

More police won't help these areas. We'd need a police state and martial law to stop the stuff that goes on due to highly concentrated poverty. The police can't patrol every backyard. We need more middle-class people moving into these neighborhoods, whether renting or buying (preferably, buying of course) which means that there needs to be a shortage elsewhere.

Additionally, higher school funding isn't going to improve school test scores immensely either, unless we double staff or some extreme measure like that. More middle class students will do the trick.

[gtjared]

Guys we can't let Midtown get any nicer, because why would we let a free market system dictate where apartments in Atlanta get built. We should force Midtown to stagnate so netdragon's constant example of Mechanicsville will get more apartments. We shouldn't let our premier urban district grow anymore.

Really what's your proposal netdragon? It's not like the government is building these buildings, it's private developers.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by gtjared

We shouldn't let our premier urban district grow anymore.

No, you need to think of your premier urban district as "inside the beltline".