Month: January 2022

Affordability initiative to protect historic Midtown apartment building

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Renovation of Winnwood Apartments, a Georgian Revival-style landmark from 1931, to include more housing, micro units

A restoration project in Midtown’s northern blocks is aiming to be a win-win for both historic preservation and affordable housing in a prominent Atlanta location.

Built in 1931, the Winnwood Apartments have been the subject of redevelopment talks for more than two years. The two-story brick structure at 1460 West Peachtree Street —built in a Georgian Revival-style by the once-prominent Atlanta firm H.W. Nicholes and Sons—reflects popular residential architecture from the early to mid-20th century.

According to preservation organization Easements Atlanta, it’s one of the last examples of this architecture style left standing in the city.

The Winnwood Apartments’ West Peachtree Street entry and courtyard today, prior to full renovations. Photography by Above Visuals; courtesy of GBX Group, Urban Landings

GBX Group has partnered with Easements Atlanta, along with developer Urban Landings, to refurbish and reconfigure the 90-year-old property into roughly 50 units—all micro apartments and one-bedrooms.

Previously, Winnwood Apartments were all two or three-bedrooms units, officials tell Urbanize Atlanta.

“This project won’t have a dedicated affordable component, per se,” Urban Landings cofounder Bobby Gibson wrote via email. “Instead, it will attempt to tackle affordability by building efficient spaces with A Class finishes at a discount to new A Class developments.”

Photography by Above Visuals; courtesy of GBX Group, Urban Landings

Atlanta development wonks may recall the landmark building and surrounding property were once controlled by Tenth Street Ventures. When four of that company’s managing partners split off to form Urban Landings in 2021, the Winnwood Apartments transferred with them, Gibson said.

Urban Landings succeed in earning a spot for the property on the National Register of Historic Places last year. That enabled developers to access historic tax credits that are helping to make the project financially viable, officials said.

The redevelopment team expects to wrap construction on Winnwood Apartments in the fourth quarter of this year. Cameron Pimm, Urban Landings chief operating officer, said it’s too early at this point to say what rents might be.

The goal, said Pimm, is to provide “quality housing at an achievable price point for the ever-expanding workforce.”

The building in the context of northern Midtown, as seen two years ago. City Realty Advisors

Winnwood’s new ownership group also donated a façade easement to Easements Atlanta. According to project leaders, that move will ensure the complex’s exterior design is permanently protected while making the project eligible for more tax incentives.

Ian Michael Rogers, Easements Atlanta’s president, said the Midtown apartments help “offer a deep connection to our city’s story” in a recent announcement. Drew Sparacia, CBX’s CEO, added that today’s real estate climate favors demolition and new construction, but that chasing quick dollars could pay fewer dividends in the long run.

“Those buildings, many with rich architecture and ties to their local communities, offer untold economic and socioeconomic potential for all community stakeholders if rehabbed correctly,” said Sparacia. “We’ve seen it time and time again across the country. And we’re confident that we’ll see it with this [Midtown] project.”

The building’s Georgian Revival-style facade and courtyard today.Photography by Above Visuals; courtesy of GBX Group, Urban Landings

JANUARY 27, 2022, 2:15PM

By JOSH GREEN

Urbanize Atlanta

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Piedmont Avenue SPI-17 District Proposed Code Amendments Seek to Create Consistency with other SPI Districts

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Atlanta is working with Midtown Alliance and the Midtown Neighbors Association to create a more user-friendly ordinance.

 

The City of Atlanta has collaborated with the Midtown Alliance and the Midtown Neighbors Association (MNA) to identify critical revisions to the zoning code to regulate orderly growth in the Piedmont Avenue SPI-17 District into the future. The proposed regulations aim to simplify, clarify, and make this district more consistent with other SPI districts. The only changes proposed are text changes and not changes to the zoning map; therefore, no properties are proposed to be rezoned.

The Zoning Review Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on March 3, 2022, or March 10, 2022. The text amendments they will be reviewing include:

  • Providing procedures consistent with other SPI districts.
  • Reformatting and updating text into tables including allowed uses, allowed heights, open space, streetscaping elements. Also, pedestrian and vehicular accessibility are clarified, including parking counts and the building’s active use depths and fenestration (windows).
  • Updating specific design criteria, including prohibiting EIFS, tree grates, arcades, overzealous tree installation, and further regulating criteria for curb-cuts and parking decks. This is intended for better compatibility to the Midtown Garden residential area to the east and greater consistency with the City’s transportation plans.

The Piedmont Avenue Special Public Interest District is divided into four (4) subareas and include Subarea 1: 14th and Piedmont; Subarea 2: Piedmont North; Subarea 3: 10th; and Piedmont. Subarea 4: Piedmont South.

According to City documents, the updated SPI-17 code will reinforce Piedmont Avenue’s strengths, including creating a walkable neighborhood with a balance of low and medium density uses. The district will continue to transition between the high mixed-use densities in the SPI-16 district to the west and lower residential densities in the Midtown Garden residential area to the east. New development will have similar landscape and streetscape design requirements to be compatible with the existing environment along Piedmont Street. In addition, the encroachment of incompatible dense commercial uses and parking into the residential neighborhood will continue to be restricted.

Post by Anita Archambeau

Whatnow Atlanta

January 27th, 2022

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Private equity giant Northland pays near record price for prime Midtown development site

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Midtown skyline.

Midtown skyline.

A private equity giant has paid a near record price for a prime development site in Midtown.

Northland Investment Corp. bought just under an acre at Spring Street and 17th for a whopping $19 million, or about $555 per land square square foot, according to Fulton County property deeds. It was sold by an affiliate of Drapac Capital Partners, an Australian real estate firm with a big footprint across Atlanta.

The all-cash deal closed on Dec. 22, according to Fulton County property records.

Four years ago, Drapac had paid just $4.7 million for the site, but a construction boom across Midtown since then has eroded the supply of development sites. It has left buyers forced with paying a premium for the top opportunities.

The site Northland purchased sits in the middle of several mixed-use projects and apartment towers either planned or underway. Next door is the site of a proposed 31-story apartment tower at 1405 Spring Street that JPX Works and Zeller Real Estate will develop. For comparison, JPX paid around $459 per land square foot for their half-acre site. Farther south, the Rockefeller Group paid $500 per land square foot for 1.1 acres at West Peachtree and 12th Street.

Northland primarily develops apartment and mixed-use properties. The firm owns several apartment projects across Atlanta, including The Sutton high-rises in Buckhead Village.

In Midtown, Northland is expanding in one of the top real estate markets in the Sunbelt. Nearby, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is opening its Atlantic Yards cloud computing and artificial intelligence office. It will bring 1,500 jobs. Also nearby is a new office tower anchored by Google.

By  –  Reporter, Atlanta Business Chronicle

Site Construction Plans Filed for the West Midtown Mixed-Use Office Tower

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Utilities, grading, and the construction of the parking deck are listed as the future improvements slated to begin in March.

Developer Sterling Interest LLC, with application assistance by Josh Reynolds of Kimley-Horn, is moving forward in developing a 1.25-acre site in West Midtown according to civil construction drawings and land disturbance permit application documents filed with the City last month.

In April, as reported by What Now Atlanta, the Chicago-based company will redevelop the property at 1050 Marietta Street NW from a single-story, partially occupied 30,000 square foot building into a mixed-use project located at the southeast intersection of West Marietta, Marietta, and 8thStreets.

According to plans submitted to the City, the project would hold seventeen stories, 202,909 square feet of office space, and 18,873 square feet of ground-floor commercial or retail.

The first phase of the development includes the site preparation, which consists of constructing a 570-space parking deck with one level of below-grade parking, stormwater conveyance through an on-site cistern/rainwater reuse, and all related utility work. According to documents submitted by the applicant, the estimated site work value is $1,600,000.

The Chicago-based company obtained rezoning approvals from the City in 2021 on the properties located at 1026, 1050, and 1060 Marietta St. NW to MRC-3 (Marietta Street Artery Overlay) to move forward with the construction of a multi-story mixed-use building.

The submitted plans anticipate the demolition of existing buildings, clearing, and site grading will begin in March 2022. Building construction is expected to start mid-Summer 2022.

Post by Anita Archembeau

Whatnow Atlanta

Published on January 6th, 2022

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Cousins Properties expands Midtown tower concept, buys Ecco restaurant

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Updated rendering for Cousins Properties' 887 West Peachtree office tower.

Updated rendering for Cousins Properties’ 887 West Peachtree office tower.

MIDTOWN ALLIANCE, HKS ARCHITECTS, PICKARD CHILTON

Atlanta’s largest office landlord has acquired a half-acre just blocks from Tech Square, adding another property for its mixed-use project along West Peachtree.

Cousins Properties Inc. paid $6.9 million for the site along 7th Street, according to Fulton County property deeds. Cousins has adjusted its original plans for its 887 West Peachtree project from a single 26-story office tower to include apartments, a restaurant and additional greenspace in a second phase of construction. The new site on 7th Street provides more room for the amenities.

Cousins brought the property from Atlanta-based restaurant group Fifth Group Restaurants, according to property records. The restaurant group’s Midtown location of European-style bar Ecco is located on the property. Cousins intends to preserve the building and has leased it back to Fifth Group. The deal closed on Dec. 9.

For the last two years, Cousins has slowly assembled sites for the project along 7th and West Peachtree. In September, it paid about $3 million for a .15-acre site adjacent to the Ecco building, where a 12-unit apartment building from 1929 still sits. In April of 2020, the company closed on three commercial lots for a combined $6.4 million.

The most recent iteration of site plans presented in December to the Midtown Development Review Committee showed a 26-story tower with 400,000 square feet of office space build over street-level retail.

Previous proposals called for around 31 stories, an additional 100,000 square feet of office more dramatic architecture that resembled a razorblade on the skyline, but Cousins altered the plans to “cater to what we’re hearing from the market,” said Executive Vice President Kennedy Hicks.

“You’re seeing the Midtown market continue to grow and evolve,” Hicks said. “This location as part of Tech Square is interesting, and the more projects that get announced there, the more exciting this particular location is going to be.”

The project is joining an area with several recently developed office towers, including:

  • Selig Enterprises’ Google-anchored 1105 West Peachtree, part of a larger mixed-use development
  • Portman Holdings’ 712 West Peachtree integrated into Anthem Technology Center
  • Cousins’ 758,000-square-foot Norfolk Southern campus.

Cousins expects to begin construction on the first phase of 887 West Peachtree this summer, Hicks said. Phase II will follow. The company has recently added active listings for the site on real estate inventory database CoStar.

By  –  Reporter, Atlanta Business Chronicle