Plans filed for Brookhaven Marta Redevelopment (Atlanta, Dallas: apartment complex, tenants, restaurant)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

MARTA has a requirement that affordable housing be included in all TOD projects, page 5
http://www.itsmarta.com/uploadedFile...%202010(1).pdf

Thanks, cq. How would that work out in practice?

[wasel]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

So, instead of trying to outright stop the TOD, or scale back its density, why aren't people calling for a simple pause? It'll take time for the developer to build out the TOD, and a bit longer to get people in it.

As DeKalb county said, any needed increases in capacity would be paid for by the developers, and I assume that that extends to other projects along the road. Perhaps y'all should be gathering the MARTA and the developers together, with the city and the community, and putting pressure on the county to get sewage upgrades online. That is, if y'all aren't already doing that.

Instead, what we're mostly seeing here in this thread, and in the comments on CoUrbanize, is that people are just trying to outright stop the project.

I am tired of saying this over and over. If anyone is trying to stop the project it has not been any organized effort to do so. Maybe a few people are bitching about it in social media but there is no group lobbying anyone to stop the Brookhaven TOD. Surveys show most residents support the idea overall. People are happy about the progress toward changes that Marta is making including the recent plan presented. And a lot of people are more frustrated at City of Brookhaven than Marta anyway.

And yes, citizens HAVE asked for a pause in development approvals for months now -- and as recently as a couple days ago the mayor announced a temporary moratorium (existing proposals are not part of it).

The reason I -- as you say "insist" -- that the sewage infrastructure is an issue of concern is because of first hand knowledge, not only photographs but also comments made to me personally by members of DeKalb County Watershed Dept in 2014, 2015 and 2016 (in regards to a different, much smaller SFH development, not the TOD.) I also heard with my own ears a Brookhaven engineering consultant say earlier this year that Brookhaven is "built out" in term of the sewer system capacity. Why would I make this up out of thin air? I actually want a TOD. I just agree with citizens that things are not being looked at closely and there are implications that can't be undone.

BTW In Q1 2014 there were over 4,000 apartment units under construction in Brookhaven & Buckhead combined, representing nearly HALF of Atlanta's intown apt development. The construction has been happening at a pace you cant understand unless you are here.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/r...ood-thing.html

Since 2014 there have been hundreds more either broken ground or proposed.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Thanks, cq. How would that work out in practice?

I lived in a new "luxury" high rise that had this requirement due to tax bonds they got. It didn't really cause any noticeable difference to quality of life, college kids (who had to be living their on parent's money) were more destructive than anything. But the prices while more affordable than full price were still only affordable for probably middle class, affordable wasn't targeting higher income, also had income maximums to qualify (I think it was 80% of median income for the area.

It did give them a competitive advantage though because on apartment listing sites they could list with their cheapest units rates even though most won't qualify for them, gets them more eyes

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

I lived in a new "luxury" high rise that had this requirement due to tax bonds they got. It didn't really cause any noticeable difference to quality of life, college kids (who had to be living their on parent's money) were more destructive than anything. But the prices while more affordable than full price were still only affordable for probably middle class, affordable wasn't targeting higher income, also had income maximums to qualify (I think it was 80% of median income for the area.

It did give them a competitive advantage though because on apartment listing sites they could list with their cheapest units rates even though most won't qualify for them, gets them more eyes

Thanks, GeorgiaPeanuts.

How much would an affordable 1 or 2 BR go for in one of these new projects?

[fourthwarden]

Brookhaven mayor calls for moratorium on apartment complex rezonings

Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst announced July 14 that he is seeking a moratorium on rezoning for high-density development projects, specifically apartment complexes.

The moratorium would not affect current proposed developments, including those on Dresden Drive and the MARTA redevelopment, he said.

Developments that don’t require rezoning also are not affected by the moratorium.

The call for a moratorium comes after proposed mixed-use developments on Dresden Drive have brought out numerous residents living in the surrounding single-family homes neighborhoods to protest the high-density developments at community meetings.

[whodean]

Tip of hat to the NIMBYs

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Thanks, cq. How would that work out in practice?

Probably in disaster as usual. God, I despise social engineering, which is not and never was the role of government.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Probably in disaster as usual. God, I despise social engineering, which is not and never was the role of government.

The government does not have a role to make sure poverty is not concentrated?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The government does not have a role to make sure poverty is not concentrated?

Yes as it is usually (well intentioned but severely flawed) government policy that contributes the concentration of poverty. Like housing projects. A lot of times the best thing the government can do is less.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Probably in disaster as usual. God, I despise social engineering, which is not and never was the role of government.

Yet America has engaged in social engineering from the very beginning, even before it actually became a nation. It's in our very DNA.

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yes as it is usually (well intentioned but severely flawed) government policy that contributes the concentration of poverty. Like housing projects. A lot of times the best thing the government can do is less.

Yeah but when the government (on all levels) has implemented a slew of policies that result in something like concentrated poverty, it can't simply relieve itself of the responsibility of at least attempting to fix the mess it created. But it's funny that only the attempted fix is labeled as social engineering.

I agree with LBJ in his commencement speech at Howard University in 1965:

"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.

You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe that you have been completely fair."