Underground Atlanta redevelopment could hit $400M (move to, property, buildings)

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Gulch

There are roughly 5,000 spaces already located within four blocks of the development. Additional parking is overkill for the area.

What if 6,000 people need to park there every day?

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by MattCW

What if 6,000 people need to park there every day?

Then they can use some of the 30,000 unused spots in downtown.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Then they can use some of the 30,000 unused spots in downtown.

And walk a few block?! What are you think?

[jsvh]

I love how parking right next to the largest transit station in the SE is a "need", yet things like affordable urban housing and expanding transit is an unachievable "want".

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by jsvh

I love how parking right next to the largest transit station in the SE is a "need", yet things like affordable urban housing and expanding transit is an unachievable "want".

You see, putting development next to train stations generates too much traffic, so instead we should just put down a bunch of parking to reduce traffic instead.

[cqholt]

Now, the COO of developer WRS, Steve Howe, has sought to assuage concerns, stating the company and their partners are doing everything in their power to minimize parking in the historic heart of Atlanta.

Howe said the development team is working with multifamily and student-housing partners to determine how to decrease the required number of parking spaces for their planned portions of the project. As plans come together in the next several months, a more reasonable (and scaled back) estimate for parking will be available.

The team is “actively trying to minimize” the amount of parking, recognizing that the neighboring MARTA transit connection will have an impact on the number of people who drive to the site, Howe said.

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/10/2...round#comments

[cqholt]

WRS is partnering with Peak Campus, a student housing developer, to build a 700-bed building across from Georgia State University. The building also will have about 25,000 square feet of retail at street level. The student housing development should be open by the fall of 2020 for that school year.

It also is partnering with Prestwick Companies, which will be building The Avery on the other half of the bock. The Avery will have at least 180 multifamily units, and it will have between 40,000 and 70,000 square feet of new retail facing Upper Alabama Street.

https://saportareport.com/undergroun...ampaign=buffer

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by cqholt

https://saportareport.com/undergroun...ampaign=buffer

Awesome news. Bringing in students who will live in and patronize that area will be a great jumpstart to the gentrification.

[jsvh]

I was at the Underground meeting last week and fairly impressed with the Q & A they had. Maybe it took some community push back but they seem to now be taking some solid urbanism approaches to incrementally developing this site. But even still, dropping 1,000 residents onto one block in this first phase will be huge for the area. They said they are hoping for even more density once they redevelop "block 1" (The one across from Five Points MARTA).

[cqholt]

WRS unveils renderings for 'Block 3' of UA.

Developer WRS has shared new images with Curbed Atlanta that detail the southwestern corner of the four-block downtown redevelopment, the Kenny’s Alley section near Alabama Street and Central Avenue. It’s called Block 3.

Construction launched last month—four months ahead of schedule, per WRS officials—and is expected to wrap up within a year to 14 months. Expect 150,000 square feet of retail, offices, and communal areas.

Existing uses at Block 3 include the now-permanent home of The Masquerade (where cosmetic renovations were recently completed) and the coworking pop-up Post-Office Cowork and coffee shop at 86 Pryor Street.

As outlined by WRS, other design and architectural highlights in the works include:

The “Exchange” building will be opened up to Upper Alabama Street, providing more of an open-air, connected corridor to Kenny’s Alley;
All retail windows will be swapped with customized, modern/industrial office storefronts;
Repair is underway of the circa-1882 Block Candy Co. building (86 Pryor Street), also replacing its 1980s storm windows with historically accurate and energy-efficient ones.

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2018/2/15...e-kennys-alley