The embattled Streets of Buckhead development is officially in new hands.
The San Diego, Calif., firm OliverMcMillan has taken over the planned mixed-used shopping district with plans to complete construction by 2013.
Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell said Buckhead residents are delighted that the development will be completed.
“It’s exciting because it was a symbol of the recession in which we were all struggling, not just Buckhead, but urban America. Getting it moving is meaningful in that regard,” Massell said. “So I look forward to a great day seeing those cranes moving around once again.”
Massell said the Buckhead Coalition feels very confident with the work of OliverMcMillan.
“We’re very pleased. We had done considerable research on this firm before they got this far and I found it to be one with considerable expertise in arrangements like this, of this size, and a firm with financial resources at its disposal,” Massell said. “Most importantly to us, a firm with a good civic ethic that we believe will make a good corporate citizen in the community and be part of the community which is as important as brick and mortar.”
The project was originally a vision of Ben Carter Properties, which sought to create a premier shopping district like Los Angeles’ famous Rodeo Drive in the heart of Buckhead.
The recession caused the development to stall, and in 2010, investors in The Streets of Buckhead forced developer Ben Carter out of the $1.5 billion project.