The five-skyscraper redevelopment plan for 1117 Perimeter Center West recently got a favorable review from the Atlanta Regional Commission heading into a public meeting at Sandy Springs City Hall on Aug. 22.
The plan by Australia-based Hong Property Trust calls for about 1,600 residential units in three towers; about 1.5 million square feet of offices in two towers; and about 200,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space. The towers could stand 20 to 29 stories tall. That’s in addition to the unusual hexagonal office building currently on the 13.5-acre site, which would remain with modifications.
The plan also includes a direct connection to the nearby Sandy Springs MARTA station via an underground tunnel lit by skylights, a concept that MARTA said is “feasible” in a letter contained within an ARC filing.
The project was reviewed by ARC as a “Development of Regional Impact.” In a June 29 report, ARC says the mixed-use, transit-oriented project generally meets the planning agency’s policies and a Livable Centers Initiative plan for the area.
The plan’s “characteristics offer the potential for site residents to work and shop on-site, and for workers and visitors to park once or arrive via transit or other alternative modes and conduct multiple trips on foot,” the report says. “This framework can eliminate dependency on cars for internal circulation, and encourage workers and visitors to use alternative transportation modes to access the development.”
Rob Forrest, a Milton-based developer representing Hong Property in the deal, did not respond to questions.
Just a matter of time before the City of Sandy Springs will approve the zoning application. A few changes will be made to show the citizens that thoughtful process was undertaken. And, the citizens will have to endure the political language of Livable Centers for all of eternity, as if that’s a good enough reason to approve this mega-monstrosity. This is the type of development that should be built on several hundred acres of land with multiple access points and multiple modalities. It doesn’t take a “planning expert” to figure this out. To build this at one of the busiest intersections in the metro area is probably criminal.
Breathtaking architecture…
But Ralph’s poimt merits respect.
“…several hundred acres + multiple access points…
Another proposal to develop every square inch of metro, suburban sandy springs and turn it into Brooklyn and or Hong Kong. We are a successful suburban enclave and should approve development consistent with this and not approving outsider’s vision of super high density to resemble where they are from. All this development will choke this area and ruin it.
This is HORRIFIC!
Anyone that works or lives within a few miles of Perimeter Center West/Abernathy Road, already knows that the roads cannot withstand such drastic increases in traffic. Even now people sit in traffic along Hammond, Perimeter Center, Ashford Dunwoody, and Peachtree Dunwoody for ridiculously long times. There is already too much in the way of commuter/business traffic, topped off by shopper traffic for the Perimeter Mall, Walmart & Target shopping areas and compounded by increasing medical/hospital traffic. All that isn’t even taking into consideration the residents who live in the area. I’m one.
Time after time after time after time after time – ad nauseum, Sandy Springs government has proven that they have zero concern for their tax paying residents (except those who live in the million dollar homes on the west side of town where rezoning would never be considered as it is in even other well to do areas of Sandy Springs). The SOLE concern of Sandy Springs government has been to bring in as much BIG BUSINESS tax money as possible. To do that they green light almost every build project be it apartment complexes, townhouses, shopping centers, massive business complexes or the very worst, combinations of all them as this build would be. They pay slight lip service to all the problems that these builds will cause and then go ahead and build them anyway. While keeping city coffers filled isn’t a bad thing, Sandy Springs has consistently kept itself in the black and doesn’t need to go to the extremes it does to fill its coffers – especially at the expense of those of us who who’ve had our surrounding living areas made worst to fill them!
Sandy Springs schools are heavily overcrowded and instead of finding solutions to those problems, more residential housing is being built. What were originally built as quiet residential streets are now used by EVERYONE (except children) to attempt to escape the seemingly endless traffic backups on the major access roads to the highways. My own Peachtree Dunwoody currently has 3 ongoing builds just between Perimeter Center and Spalding! Need to get somewhere in the morning or afternoon rush hours using Peachtree Dunwoody in that section? Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes just to get down the road!
So many of us moved to Sandy Springs thinking of it as a slightly cheaper version of Dunwoody. How we wish our city’s government planners took the long view Dunwoody’s has! Dunwoody’s planners are growing their city but keeping its charm and beauty. Sandy Springs planners are just trying to make us look like downtown Atlanta.
Outside of the normal rush hour traffic, I feel like traffic concerns are sometimes blown out of proportion. During non-work hours and days this area starts to look like a ghost town, except for the sea of cars at Costco and Home Depot.
You see very few people who live in the area walking and enjoying the neighborhood. A park area should be discussed for this area, but I think “1,600 residential units” of which I’m assuming will be condos, will further make Sandy Springs a place where people want to LIVE and not just work.
I agree with everyone. Sandy Springs is obviously catering to the very rich. We have a lot of senior citizens here and we are being forced out – rent too high – traffic too hard to drive in, etc. Even if new shops and restaurants are proposed, I am sure we will be much higher prices for meals and clothing. It is so sad that the people who elected for SS to become a city are being slapped in the face.
This is an affront to the residents here. We want less traffic, more greenspace, more sidewalks and more bike paths. Another commenter mentioned Brooklyn, but the neighborhoods there are walkable, access to public. Transportation that takes one to all the Burroughs and beyond. This is just a big mess of strip malls and buildings that create more disconnection.
Well said…
I think this is a great idea. Atlanta is slowly becoming more transit oriented and building as close to Marta stations as possible is the way to go. Its a fact all the property values and rents are on the rise around Marta stations. This isn’t going to slow down.
I don’t know why people are complaining about traffic?? If you don’t want traffic move to Nebraska. It makes no sense to continue to add more lanes to highways…all it does is encourage more people to drive…but it doesn’t solve the fact that when you leave the highway, roads are still only 1 or 2 lanes. This is a major city and its becoming more dense every year. I live right down the street and love all the new buildings going up, my property value is going through the roof.
Building this give Sandy Springs a more 24/7 vitality to it. More people walking around, more places to live near Marta, etc… Great project and I’m all for it.
Until we have a real public transportation option in Atlanta and not the joke we know as Marta this needs to be put on pause. Marta says at BEST 15% are expected to use Marta that means that 85% will be driving for something less than 1/3 this size they are projecting 11,000 car trips a day. That shouldn’t be anything that can’t be handled right?
Hey BC,
When density becomes too much, it chokes an area and the area becomes less desirable. Sandy Springs and area are suburban and SS should be approving projects that fit in with this not remaking SS to be like Midtown, Brookly, and Hong Kong. Just because the developer comes from high density that worked where they are from doesn’t mean they should be able to transfer that idea anywhere in the U.S. SS is very desirable – remaking it into Midtown doesn’t make it more desirable – just becomes more dense/urban. We moved here for suburbia not Midtown. BC, if you don’t like the suburbia that you have enjoyed while living in SS, then move to Buckhead or Midtown. They have all of this. It is not we who accept a remake of where we live but you who should accept a move to where you want. Just because a developer wants to put hi rises in so they can maximize their profit doesn’t mean that an area is on the change and that we have to accept it. Such stupid thinking by you, seriously. This can slow down by simply rejecting high density. It really is that simple. You saying that this isn’t going to slow down seems to indicate that developers can pretty much do what they want, when they want and no one has any say it nor should have any say in it. So stupid to say that our property increases in value when there is high density nearby that clogs our roads. Values go up when there is a sense of proportion, suburban feel, good schools, and no density. The only values that go up when density arrives are commercial properties on which high density can be built upon. What naive thinking. Do us a favor and move to Buckhead. Or Midtown. Or Brooklyn or Hong Kong.
To those who claim to have moved to Sandy Springs Private Equity Corp. for “Suburbia” are you joking or just not know what Suburbia is? SSPEC is little more than Atlanta extended or if you read this Reporter Blog some think it’s Buckhead.
Correct to all above who said we didn’t vote to have massive overdevelopment. Well, how is everyone liking the old girl Galambos who started all of this now? She started the process of development at all cost and the SSPEC who runs and basically owns the City is just continuing on the Galambos cause. Don’t like our retired HUD, useless government employee, Rusty Paul? Well, if you’re Republican why did you vote for a former government employee you rage about all day long?
Simple question on all of the SSPEC over development and this quote above
“This framework can eliminate dependency on cars for internal circulation, and encourage workers and visitors to use alternative transportation modes to access the development.”
What is the requirement in writing that requires the workers of the office building live in the Condo structure? IF you have no requirement that the fact for development is part of the required “contract” for building then all the statements are just hot air. In a society of legal everything it should be an easy requirement that all SSPEC negotiations have a legal requirement and consequence for the developer.
Or if like many of us you’ve come to Georgia as part of a corporate relocation, time to move back North. The only one’s benefitting from the corporate relocation are the executives. I’ll take all the traffic jams and overdevelopment if all I have to do is walk outside, get on a bus, get on a subway, take a reliable cab, over the guns everywhere no public transport Georgia everyday of the week.