Site prep for Midtown’s Tech Square, Phase III is happening

Georgia Tech: Work between now and February to set stage for multi-tower build

 

Georgia Tech is putting plans in motion that officials say will set the stage for the next phase of Tech Square’s evolution: a block-altering, multi-tower project that’s been percolating for more than two years.

Schools officials released a traffic control plan Friday to help usher pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers around demolition set for the block bounded by West Peachtree, Spring, and 5th streets, and Biltmore Place. That’s one block north of Tech Square’s Coda, a John Portman and Associates-designed office tower.

Two low-rise buildings fronting West Peachtree Street will be razed for what demolition permits describe as “an interim parking lot on gravel and grass pavers.”

The two low-rise West Peachtree Street buildings in question.

That eastern side of the block is being converted into a temporary campus “flex area” for additional parking and greenspace, where outdoor concerts, food trucks, and pop-up restaurants are also expected to be staged in the short term.

The flex space will eventually house a complex totaling 400,000 square feet with at least two towers.

The most recent Phase III rendering available. Georgia Tech says designs in this artistic interpretation are likely to change.

Named for philanthropists Penny and William “Bill” George, the George Tower will be home to the highly ranked H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, in addition to other programs, according to Georgia Tech.

The second high-rise, Scheller Tower, will house Tech’s graduate and executive education programs in the Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business.

Tech officials say both new Phase III towers are scheduled to open by 2025.

In the meantime, demolition work will close sections of the block’s existing parking lot and sidewalks.

To help mitigate that, part of 5th Street’s westbound lane will be converted into a bike lane, while eastbound lanes remain open to cars and bikes. Biltmore Place will be westbound only, according to project leaders.

This preparatory work for Phase III is set to last until February, and updates on construction are expected to be issued in coming months.

Plans for the Midtown block throughout fall and winter.

The block and bike lanes in question at 5th and Spring Streets, as seen in December.

The first sections of Tech Square opened in 2003, transforming what had been barren lots on the western edge of Midtown into an educational hub on the opposite side of the Connector from Georgia Tech’s campus.

The greenspace-laden Fifth Street Bridge Park debuted four years later as a means to pleasantly connect the two university entities.

 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021, 8:29AM

By JOSH GREEN

Urbanize Atlanta

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Developer Plans 33-Story, 460-Unit Mixed-Use Midtown Tower

The proposed building would also hold about 75,000 square feet of office space and 15,000 square feet of retail space

811 Peachtree Site
Photo: Google Maps | 811 Peachtree St.
National real estate development firm Property Markets Group has plans for a 33-story, 460-unit mixed-use project in Midtown Atlanta, according the Midtown Development Review Committee‘s meeting agenda for next week.

Planned for 811 Peachtree Street, the newly proposed project would total 330,200 square feet at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Peachtree and 6th Street, which is currently a surface parking lot. Plans call for 76,500 square feet of office space and 15,600 square feet of retail space.

The Midtown DRC will review the project plans during its monthly meeting Tuesday evening, the agenda shows. Listed as part of the project team alongside PMG are global architecture and design firm Cooper Carry, planning and design engineering firm Kimley-Horn, and law firm Morris, Manning & Martin LLP.

The project would provide 455 parking spaces within a six-story podium parking deck.

The building lobby and amenities would be accessible from 6th Street.

A nearly 30-year-old company, PMG has led more than $7 billion worth of development, according to its website. Most of its projects are in New York and Florida, where its two offices are located.

PMG didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

Located two blocks east of Tech Square, the project site of 811 Peachtree St. is also just south of Skyhouse South, a 23-story apartment tower acquired by national apartment owner Equity Residential last month. PMG’s development site was last acquired by an affiliate of developer The Integral Group in 2016 for about $12 million, according to county property records.

Property Markets Group’s plans represent one of two mixed-use tower projects the Midtown DRC will discuss on Tuesday. Also planned is a 30-story, 345-unit project on 10th Street by Mill Creek Residential.

 

180 10th

Renderings: Midtown Alliance | A look at early plans for 180 10th St. and 811 Peachtree St.

 

Photo: Google Maps | 811 Peachtree St.
Photo: Google Maps | 811 Peachtree St.

 

Post by Dean Boerner (WhatNow Atlanta)

July 9th, 2021.

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Mill Creek Residential Plans 30-Story Mixed-Use Project In Midtown

The proposed mixed-use tower is one of two that the Midtown DRC will discuss on Tuesday

180 10th

Renderings: Midtown Alliance | A look at early plans for 180 10th St. and 811 Peachtree St.

National apartment developer Mill Creek Residential has plans for a 30-story, 345-unit mixed-use project to replace a Midtown parking lot on the northern side of 10th Street, according to the Midtown Development Review Committee‘s meeting agenda for next week.

The roughly 400,000-square-foot development would rise at 180 10th St., which is located mid-block between Juniper Street and Piedmont Avenue, and also include about 4,000 square feet of retail space facing 10th Street. The project would also provide 442 parking spaces in a partially buried eight-story podium parking deck, according to the Midtown DRC’s agenda.

The DRC will discuss the proposed development Tuesday evening before reviewing plans for an even larger development, a 33-story, 460-unit project by Property Markets Group.

The DRC agenda shows that architecture and engineering firm Gresham Smith is also involved in Mill Creek Residential’s proposed development.

Along with retail, the project’s 10th-Street facade would feature a covered area leading to the building’s lobby.

Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Mill Creek Residential develops, acquires, constructs, and operates apartment communities throughout the U.S. Its portfolio amounts to about 100 developments, including eight in Atlanta under its Modera brand.

Mill Creek Residential Managing Director Patrick Chesser said the company would provide more details on its plans for its Midtown project next week.

Photo: Google Maps | 180 10th St.

 

Post By: Dean Boerner

WhatNow Atlanta, July 09, 2021

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Einstein’s Closes to Make Way for Middle Street Partners Towers, Joe’s on Juniper to Follow

Midtown is saying goodbye to both long-standing restaurants, which are to be replaced by dual residential skyscrapers.

Einstein's closes to make way for Middle Street Partners Towers

It’s official. Over the weekend, Midtown staple Einstein’s closed its doors after a thirty year run, soon to be followed by neighboring restaurant Joes on Juniper, which is expected to close in October.

Metrotainment Cafes, the parent company of both restaurants, sold the properties to developer Middle Street Partners back in March. Shortly after the sale, Middle Street Partners released renderings for the dual skyscrapers that are slated to be built where Einstein’s and Joe’s on Juniper now stand.

In a statement provided to What Now Atlanta, Metrotainment Cafes confirmed that Einstein’s is now officially closed for regular dining. “The restaurant and space will be available for private events until October for those seeking spaces for rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, corporate events, and more,” the statement read. “Additionally, Joe’s on Juniper will remain open until October, allowing guests to enjoy the summer season on the famous patio in Midtown.”

The news comes as a blow to Einstein’s and Joe’s on Juniper loyalists, many of whom have been frequenting both restaurants for decades. But as the old saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. Wedding season is upon us, and for those who want to send Einstein’s out with a bang, you can seal the deal with a kiss in your favorite restaurant, before we all move on to a towering new chapter.

By Sydney Rende

Whatnow Atlanta

June 1, 2021.

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Three Midtown Atlanta blocks and 7 new towers in 15 aerial photos

From Norfolk Southern’s new HQ to Coda, a section of the city transformed

 

The amount of new development across Atlanta the past decade has been dizzying, and nowhere are changes more pronounced than Midtown’s core business and high-rise residential district.

Within that construction frenzy, several subsections of Midtown have emerged as epicenters of development by a variety companies betting big on the area’s potential and expected influx of people. That especially applies to three blocks at Technology Square along Spring and West Peachtree streets, located near Midtown’s southern rim and the significant investment driver that is Georgia Tech.

These blocks between Ponce de Leon Avenue and 5th Street are unrecognizable from five years ago. Their transformation has involved several of the heaviest hitters in Atlanta development. Collectively, the seven buildings that have opened since 2018—or are construction now—provide space for more than 8,000 new Midtown office dwellers and almost 1,500 college students.

As part of Urbanize Atlanta’s occasional series of drone tours, we took to the skies over Midtown this week to see how these seven buildings have come together, as three of them prepare to open this fall.

MAY 26, 2021, 9:30AM

By JOSH GREEN

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Judge Nixes Class Certification in Suit Claiming Beltline Property Owners Were Owed for Rail Easements

The putative class action claims that property owners along a 3-mile stretch of the Beltline should have been compensated when Norfolk Southern signed over its easements to the Beltline and Atlanta Development Authority.

Fulton County Superior Court, Judge Henry Newkirk. Photo: John Disney/ALM

Fulton County Superior Court, Judge Henry Newkirk. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

A Fulton County, Georgia, judge has denied class certification in a lawsuit claiming property owners along a stretch of the Atlanta Beltline should have been compensated for the use of their property when Norfolk Southern deeded portions of its right of way to the Atlanta city government and its development arm to create the project.

The putative class action claimed that owners of residential and commercial properties along parts of the eastside and northeast section of the trail in the area around Monroe Drive and 10th Street should have been entitled to “reversionary property rights” once the railroad signed away its easements to the Atlanta Development Authority and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. in 2007.

The 2017 complaint, originally filed on behalf of the Ansley Walk Condominium Association, said the use of the property for the Beltiine’s pathway and parks constituted an illegal taking and includes claims for trespass and inverse condemnation.

In a recent order, Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk refused to certify the proposed class, which would have included “those fee landowners who owned parcels of property along the Subject Property on the date [Norfolk Southern] abandoned its railroad purpose easement.”

The order Newkirk signed said the proposed class consisted of 76 property owners and relied on 13 original property deeds, some dating to the 1800s, including two that have still not been found and might never surface.

The assortment of titles and agreements related to the various properties and the means for calculating the affected properties would “require an individualized analysis for each putative class member,” Newkirk’s order said.

“Not only have Plaintiffs not shown how this could be accomplished on a class-wide basis, they have not even presented the deeds that allegedly establish the chain of title for the putative class members,” the order said.

Of the four named plaintiffs who joined the case, one subsequently dropped out, it said, describing the Beltline as “the best thing that ever happened to that area of Atlanta, to my property, to people who live in the neighborhood.”

Morris Manning & Martin partner Robert Alpert, who represents the Beltline and Invest Atlanta, the ADA’s development arm, said the issues raised by the lawsuit are not appropriate for class litigation.

“The argument is that, when this real estate was originally deeded to the railroad, it was in the form of an easement, not fee simple [i.e., not permanent ownership], and that when the Beltline acquired it, ownership should have reverted back to the original owners or their successors,” he said.

“That issue has not been resolved; the first issue was class certification,” said Alpert, whose co-counsel includes firm partner Jeffrey Douglass and associate Doug Hance. The city of Atlanta is represented by Dentons partners Jeffrey Zachman and Nathan Garroway and associate Sarah Phillips.

“Jeff and I have been litigating class actions for 20 years,” said Alpert. “We think the individual issues predominating in this case and applicable law make it inappropriate for class certification.”

Plaintiffs counsel includes Holt Ney Zatcoff & Wasserman partners J. Scott Jacobson and Scott Morris and Steven Wald and Michael Smith of Stewart, Wald & McCulley in St. Louis.

In an interview, Jacobson said the ruling presented a couple of important issues.

“First, even if the trial court’s class denial stands, that doesn’t resolve the larger constitutional question: Should the city and Atlanta Development Authority and Beltline be required to compensate property owners for taking their property?” Jacobson said.

“Second, even if the case is no longer pursued as a class action, it just means that each property owner will have to either join the current lawsuit or file an individual lawsuit,” he said. “That was the reason we decided to pursue it as a class action.”

“We think its an important ruling by the trial court, and we’d like to give the higher courts a chance to weigh in,” Jacobson said.

According to court filings, the roughly 3-mile section of the Beltline in question is near Ansley Park and runs south through Inman Park.

In 2007, Norfolk Southern transferred its interest in the property to the ADA, retaining an easement for its freight and passenger trains.

Afterward, the ADA and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. signed at least 60 agreements with owners of adjacent properties.

“These agreements include boundary line agreements, license agreements, access agreements, limited warranty deeds, and a variety of easement agreements, including easements granted by certain of the putative class members to ADA and ABI and vice versa,” said Newkirk’s order, which was prepared by the defense counsel.

When Norfolk Southern “terminated its railroad purpose easement,” the complaint said the property then “became unburdened by all railroad purpose easements, and plaintiffs were entitled to reclaim their ‘reversionary’ right to use, possess, and control their land that they owned in fee simple to the centerline of the Subject Property.”

The complaint accused the city of using Invest Atlanta and BeltLine Inc. “in an effort to defeat justice and avoid a statutory obligation, that is, the avoidance of its Constitutional obligations to pay just compensation for taking property.”

Newkirk’s April 24 order denying class certification said that, while the plaintiffs have not specified the amount of damages they’re due, “in discovery they averred that they are seeking essentially ‘the market value of the land [they] lost plus any damages to [their] remaining property that is next to the BeltLine.’”

The order said that each of the agreements involving the property would have to be examined “to determine, among other things, whether property rights were conveyed between the parties and whether the putative class members agreed to contractual provisions that bar their claims for inverse condemnation or trespass.”

And, it said, “it appears that numerous individual putative class members have in fact authorized Defendants to use the Property as the Atlanta BeltLine transportation corridor.”

“Considering all of the individualized issues concerning the putative class members’ claims, Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that the predominance and superiority requirements of [Georgia’s class action statute] are satisfied in this case,” Newkirk’s order said.

“The one thing our client believes and feels strongly about is that the Beltline has not engaged in any improper activity,” said Alpert. “Just because it may be funded by partly private and partly public sources, they shouldn’t be a target for litigation, and the Beltline is going to defend itself against any claims it does not agree with.”

 

By Greg Land | May 18, 2021 at 02:59 PM

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U.S. Postal Service will vacate Rockefeller Group’s prime Midtown development site

Despite several big projects planned or underway, Midtown still features “significant development opportunities,” says Adam Viente, an executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle.

Despite several big projects planned or underway, Midtown still features “significant development opportunities,” says Adam Viente, an executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle.

The basics: New York developer Rockefeller Group owns the prime Midtown development site at 1072 West Peachtree St. It’s diagonal from the 1105 West Peachtree project where Google leases most of a 31-story tower.

Rockefeller Group is sending a clear message about its plans to redevelop a Midtown post office.

The U.S. Postal Service says it will move from its spot on West Peachtree Street as its lease is expiring and a new agreement could not be reached. The announcement comes about 10 months after Rockefeller Group paid $25 million for the 1.1-acre site that includes the post office and a parking deck.

In real estate terminology, the New York developer paid just over $500 per land square foot. Only a handful of prime development sites in the city have sold for that much.

What it means: It’s a reminder Rockefeller Group paid a premium to control and eventually develop the property in Midtown, one of the top real estate markets in the Sunbelt, where tech companies Microsoft Corp. and Google are expanding. The technology sector is a catalyst for big, new office leases and Midtown is where much of that activity is focused. Despite several big projects planned or underway, Midtown still features “significant development opportunities,” Adam Viente, an executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle, recently told Atlanta Business Chronicle.

At a glance: Rockefeller Group has a development team in Atlanta. It is targeting high-profile sites in walkable, urban neighborhoods.

What’s next: Rockefeller Group could not be immediately reached about its plans to redevelop the post office. It would likely present its concept to the Midtown Development Review Committee when it’s further along. Market fundamentals do not suggest a spec office tower is likely. Office space is over 20%, and companies are only using about 25% of their space across the Atlanta market, as work-from-home remains popular. A high-rise apartment tower is a possibility, but even those projects face soaring construction costs. USPS, meanwhile, is asking customers to send comments on its relocation of the Midtown post office.

By   –  Senior Editor/News, Atlanta Business Chronicle

Midtown Connector Transportation Improvement Project

The team that is staffing the Midtown Connector Transportation Improvement Project – the MCP Foundation – has released its second 15 minute video providing background and an overview of the proposed project. 

This second installment focuses on elevated deck projects in other cities that have been studied, key learnings and other features that have inspired the design of this project. 

It can be viewed here: https://abetterconnector.com/community/inspiring-inspiration/

Atlanta’s housing supply shortage expected to continue for some time

The housing supply shortage is expected to get more extreme as homebuyer demand continues to outweigh inventory levels, a new study found.

As the spring home buying season begins, HouseCanary’s latest Market Pulse report compared data between March 2021 and March 2020 and found the volume of new monthly listings nationwide to be down 11.5% year over year. Last month, 284,298 new listings were placed on the market, a 0.9% decrease compared to March 2020. Additionally, 348,422 listings went under contract across the country, a 22.7% increase from March 2020.

New listing activity year-over-year decreased by 24.3% for homes in the $200,000 and under range. Homes listed between $200,000 and $400,000 had a decrease of 13.2%. New listing activity increased in houses priced above $400,000. New home listings between $400,000 and $600,000 were up 15.1%, and homes priced from $600,000 to $1 million were up 47%.

Home price appreciation continues to accelerate as the ongoing supply shortage drives prices up, the report found. That shortage is expected to continue over the coming months. The median single-family home price for the week ending April 2 was $378,408, up 16.5% year over year. The median closed price was $367,242, up 22.4%. Additionally, the month-over-month median price of single-family listings was up 2.2% and median prices of closed listings were up 5.4%.

“As we enter the spring home buying season, the market is experiencing extremely limited supply compounded by an outsized level of demand that shows no signs of easing,” HouseCanary Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Sicklick said in a press release. “Bidding wars have broken out across the country, and homes on the upper end of the price spectrum are selling at significantly higher rates compared to a year ago. The extreme supply shortage continues to put upward pressure on single-family home prices – a more favorable environment for sellers – and we expect this trend to continue over the coming months. Looking further ahead, however, rising mortgage rates could cool future price growth as potential buyers continue to get priced out of the market.

For the week ending April 2, new listings in Georgia were down 33.4% from week ending March 13, 2020, down 21.3% year over year and down 14.3% week over week.

During that same time period, homes stayed on the market for 23 days, down 47.7% from week ending March 13, 2020 and down 47.7% year over year.

The report also found the median new list price of a home in Georgia was $314,450, up 12.3% from week ending March 13, 2020 ($279,900) and up 18.7% year over year ($265,000).

Additionally, there were 2,810 listings under contract week ending April 2, a 1.9% increase from week ending March 13, 2020 (2,757) and up 26.5% year over year (2,222).

Hundreds of apartments planned to replace shuttered hotel near Beltline

Nearly 400 apartments are planned to be built on the site of the vacant InTown Suites in Piedmont Heights adjacent to the Buford Spring Connector.

Nearly 400 apartments are planned to be built on the site of the vacant InTown Suites in Piedmont Heights adjacent to the Buford Spring Connector.

A California developer plans to replace a shuttered extended-stay hotel near the Beltline with almost 400 apartments.

Fairfield Residential is proposing to demolish the InTown Suites at 1944 Piedmont Circle and build 392 apartments. A roughly 500-space parking deck is also planned.

Fairfield needs the OK from the Beltline Design Review Committee before it can start the redevelopment. The committee will be tasked with preserving a piece of Atlanta history — stone stairs on the site of the new apartments that once led to the home of Edwin Plaster.

His family was among the area’s first settlers in the early 1800s. A historical marker commemorates “Gold Tooth John,” the Plaster’s handyman who built the steps.

The steps and historical marker are located where a new sidewalk for the apartments would go.

The marker’s inscription commemorates the Plaster family for its contributions, including construction of Plasters Bridge Road, now known as Piedmont Road. The inscription, which also credits Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman for being the originator of urban renewal in Atlanta, is about 90% humor and 10% history, according to an online description. As for Gold Tooth John, history says his ghost wanders the halls of the Intown Suites, a former Holiday Inn from the 1960s.

The InTown Suites has been an eyesore in Piedmont Heights, one of the neighborhoods the Beltline runs through. It stands next to the Buford Spring Connector and near Ansley Park. Midtown Bowl is also close by.

Paces Properties, behind such projects as Krog Street Market, Atlanta Dairies and Stove Works, purchased InTown Suites in 2016 for $8 million. In 2018, Paces went before the Design Review Committee with plans for an adaptive reuse of the property. The project was to include Atlanta’s first Bunkhouse hotel.

The city issued a permit in 2019 to Bunkhouse Atlanta Hotel to gut and demolish the interior and much of the exterior but to keep the main framework of the building intact. The demolition permit expired at the end of 2019. In February, the city issued a stop-work order.

The Piedmont Park Civic Association’s website includes a summary of a recent meeting with a Fairfield representative. Fairfield is under contract to buy the site from Paces Properties.

By   –  Reporter, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Business Chronicle