Despite a resident’s plea that a developer be required to save more of an 87-year-old building than planned, members of the board of Neighborhood Planning Unit-B sided with a neighborhood association and overwhelmingly approved a proposal for a 15-story residential building on Peachtree Road.
The board voted 22-1, with one member abstaining, to approve Branch Properties’ plan for the residential tower at 2395, 2425 and 2451 Peachtree Road. A fast-food restaurant and a 1929 building known as the Bindery occupy portions of the site.
Branch Properties representatives said the developer plans to keep about 2,600 square feet of the building as part of the new development, which will feature apartments and street-level shops or restaurants.
After extensive negotiations with representatives of the Peachtree Hills neighborhood, the developer won support for the project from 80 percent of the neighborhood’s residents, representatives told the NPU board.
But Peachtree Hills resident Laura Dobson asked that the NPU require the developer to save more of the building, which she said covers more than 16,000 square feet. She asked that the original portion of the 1929 building, which covered more than 6,000 square feet, be preserved. “I’m not asking them not to touch it. I’m asking them to preserve the important part of the building,” she said.
Richard Lee of Branch Properties said the developer was saving as much of the building as it could.
“We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars to save the 2,600 square feet,” he said. “Do we wish we could save more? Of course we do. But we’re thrilled to save the 2,600 square feet.”
The project now goes to the city’s Zoning Review Board for review.