The Dunwoody Homeowners Association after six months of debate and discussion voted Oct. 1 to take no position on the proposed Grubb Properties mixed-use development on Perimeter Center East where the current City Hall is located.
The proposed development on 19.5 acres at 41, 47 and 53 Perimeter Center East includes four residential towers and one new office tower. The project goes before the city’s Planning Commission on Nov. 14. It is then slated to go before the City Council on Dec. 11 for first read and a public hearing and then to the council again on Jan. 8 for the second read and vote.
The DHA’s endorsement carries no legislative weight. The last time a developer actively sought DHA’s endorsement was during last year’s proposed Crown Towers development. The developers for that project eventually withdrew their rezoning request. Developers do often present plans to DHA before going before the city’s Planning Commission as part of seeking community input.
Grubb Properties made its first presentation to the DHA in May and has worked with board members on the plans while seeking the group’s endorsement.
DHA President Robert Wittenstein said in an Oct. 2 interview that the first motion made during the board-only portion of the meeting was made to take no position, but it failed due to a lack of a second. A second motion to oppose the project was defeated and a third motion to support the project was also defeated.
“It was an interesting evening,” Wittenstein said. “The end result is that we take no action. The main concern was traffic … and do we want more people and businesses coming to Dunwoody. We couldn’t come to a consensus if it was a good thing or bad thing.”
Representatives from Grubb Properties were on hand for the Oct. 1 meeting and addressed major concerns many DHA members had about the number of apartments versus owner-occupied residential units. However, Wittenstein said DHA members were more concerned about traffic at the Oct. 1 meeting rather than owner-occupied units versus rental units.
Grubb Properties representatives said they filed Sept. 5 a rezoning request with the city and is also seeking two special land use permits. Because of the size of the project, a development of regional impact, or DRI, is now underway and is expected to be finished by the Nov. 14 Planning Commission meeting.
The zoning request is for 1,200 residential units. Grubb Properties also is seeking 500,000 square feet of office space. The site is located behind the Ravinia complex off Ashford-Dunwoody Road.
Full build out of the project is expected to take 10 years. A traffic study completed by Kimley-Horn as part of the DRI, specifically the five intersection on Ashford-Dunwoody Road, states new trips generated from the new development expected to be about 650 new entrances and about 500 exits during peak morning hours, according to Todd Williams of Grubb Properties. During peak evening hours, the numbers flip — about 500 entrances and close to 650 exits, he said.
Estimates are that 10 new students per year, over a decade, would join the DeKalb County School System, for a total of about 100 students in grades k-12.