The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods on Nov. 10 couldn’t muster the support to tell private development firm OliverMcMillan to change the name of its Buckhead Atlanta project. During its regular meeting, a motion to simply state that the BCN does not like the name failed with seven voting ‘yes,’ six abstaining and six voting ‘no.’
OliverMcMillan is spending $600 million on the former failed Streets of Buckhead development in Buckhead Village.
Some members of the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, notably BCN secretary Gordon Certain, think the name is too generic.
Certain thinks the name is confusing. In an editorial he wrote in the North Buckhead Civic Association Newsletter, Certain wrote, “Buckhead designates a community of about 18,000 acres in Atlanta. At best, having eight acres take over our name will confuse visitors and residents alike.”
Certain proposed a motion asking the company to change the name, but after some wrangling it was watered-down to a motion that would state for the record that the BCN doesn’t care for the Buckhead Atlanta name.
Even that generic statement went through some wrangling, as some members openly questioned whether the council had any business telling a private developer what it should call its development.
“(The Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods is) not pleased with the project name Buckhead Atlanta,” one version of the motion stated.
“How about ‘does not like?,’” another BCN member suggested.
“The BCN does not like the name Buckhead Atlanta because it misrepresents the …neighborhoods that are called Buckhead,” the final motion read.
Some of the other neighborhood representatives were frustrated by the discussion.
David Ross, of the Peachtree Battle Alliance, said it was not the council’s place to tell OliverMcMillan what to do.
“Who are we to tell them how to brand a private development,” he said. “We have more important things the council needs to spend time on.”
When asked how he felt about the failure of the BCN to approve his motion, he said, “That’s life.”
“To me, it’s not a good choice for Buckhead and not a good choice for their company,” he said. “I want to send them a message.”
Hunter Richardson, development director for OliverMcMillan, recently told the Buckhead Business Association said the name isn’t what’s really important about the development. He said, “It wasn’t so much about the name as much as the branding so we could market it it.”
In other business, the BCN voted to keep all of its current officers for the upcoming year, but added Ann O’Connell with the Mt. Paran-Northside Citizens Association as an at-large member.
The other members are:
Chairman: Jim King, Chastain Park
Vice-chairman: Elizabeth Prichard, Peachtree Battle Alliance
Secretary: Gordon Certain, North Buckhead
Treasurer: Barbara Kennedy, Collier Hills
Communications: Bob Schneider, Garden Hills
Member at large: George Mirgorod, Pine Hills
