What's wrong with Atlantic Station? (Atlanta, Lenox: live, dangerous, shop)

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by brownhornet

I called this "pie in the sky" dream from the beginning. It's obvious by how long this has drug out that it's going to be a bust for the most part. They might as well throw an old navy and a couple of thrift stores in that thing and call it a day. Hell half the stores in Lenox don't even sell that well.. i'd be willing to bet the highest grossing store in there is Apple.

And how exactly do you know that? Do you work in the mall? Or are you just making things up like everyone else does on here?

[ATLTJL]

I do know that the highest peforming mall in Atlanta in terms of dollars earned per square foot of retail space is not Lenox.

It's Perimeter.

I haven't checked the data in a number of years, but I'm assuming it's still the same way.

[oldschoolChevy]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

I never said it was specific to Atlanta. But Atlantic Station is no Adams Morgan; its a high profile, glitzy development. And Adams Morgan is not directly connected to an area as bad as English Avenue. This is certainly a more exaggerated case.



Dunwoody.

First off Dunwood isn't Atlanta, it's Dunwoody. I can see how you going to another city saying that you're from Atlanta as no one will no know what Dunwoody is. But it's not Atlanta, it's Dunwoody, and that is a suburb. I saw an interview with Ryan Seacrest a few years ago, and when they asked him where he grew up he didn't say "I grew up in Atlanta", he said he grew up in Dunwoody.

And how is Adams Morgan glitzy and high profile? Up until 10-15 years ago it was basically the barrio in DC, with nothing but Central American immigrants with some East Africans here and there. And glitzy development? It's a bunch of 100-150 year old row houses, the way you're talking about it makes it sound like some brand new mixed use development. Are you sure you're talking about Adams Morgan in NW DC? Are you sure you actually lived in DC? And not connected to a rough area? Shaw is the next neighborhood over, and Susum Corda is a stones throw away also, and Shaw is nothing short of the hood and Sursum Corda are projects. We dont even have projects in Atlanta anymore, and if you say Shaw isn't the hood you're just flat out lying. And DC is much more dense than Atlanta, you can't exactly walk from Simpson Rd to Atlantic Station, but to walk from Shaw to Adams Morgan is just walking a few blocks west. Stick up kids run rampant throughout DC simply because the nice areas are right next to the bad ones. So not only are you commenting on West Atlanta (which you know nothing about), but you're commenting on DC (which you know nothing about) just to try and prove your point.

[K-SawDude]

Hadn't seen anyone post this yet, but I thought this was an interesting perspective on what Atlantic Station needs to take the next major step:

Atlantic Station ? An Opinion - Atlanta Business Chronicle

I remember there could have been about 10 office towers, plus development on adjacent properties not owned by the landlord. Had Atlantic Station been able to absorb one office building over the past 18 to 24 months, there would now be at least five buildings, each pushing employees into the retail project (the most natural customer), each adding a positive buzz, each supporting the other aspects of the project. At five buildings, the project would be about half built and more and more people would use the property each day.

This is not to say, of course, that the positive (better parking, improved ambiance, positive leasing) changes made by the new owner were unneeded, however, increased foot traffic (like increased roof tops) can solve a lot of problems, and Atlantic Station needs more people in its core neighborhood. Ultimately, announcements of new office tenant leases are at least as important as announcements of a new retail tenant.

I wish I knew a bit more about how/when they decided to build and stop building office towers. I realize demand for office space plummeted during the recession. But AS has always looked unfinished to me. I wonder if things would have been better off if there were a few more office towers there.

He also has this to add about the westside more generally:

An analysis of the office leases would, I think, lead me to believe that the larger tenants came to be entrepreneurial (like us), because they were tied to the project (SouthTrust) or for rent considerations. While retail and restaurants have grown throughout the west side neighborhoods, the large office tenant leases have generally remained on the east side of the interstate. As a fan of the west side, I hope that the west side will catch up.

The failure to cross the freeway leads one to suggest that the west side is still more forward thinking, less traditional, and should appeal to those currently leasing space in and around Georgia Tech (the start-up companies), those that want to leave downtown, and those who want that 24/7 experience. They may not be multi floor tenants but smaller tenants can aggregate to fill big buildings.

[northwinds]

Two words....."hip-hop".....

[muxBuppie]

Originally Posted by northwinds

Two words....."hip-hop".....

Where are the thugs at Atlantic Station? I am always looking for them because of what people say on this site and I never see them. I usually go to H&M over there. Are they near there?

[NYbyWAYofGA]

Originally Posted by northwinds

Two words....."hip-hop".....

Yawn...

[tonygeorgia]

Two words....northside child molesters

[arjay57]

We should be proud of hip hop, not embarrassed by it. Why should we Atlantans view the mention of "hip hop" as a negative?

[weort]

In Atlanta people are very proud of their hip-hop heritage. It's one of the many reasons educated persons and high quality businesses are flocking to Georgia.