The long-stalled High Street project site in Dunwoody has been floated by media as a potential site for a new Amazon headquarters site as part of that corporation’s nationwide request for bids. The city’s economic development director says High Street’s developers are still moving forward with a massive mixed-use development that’s been in the works for a decade, but he didn’t rule out an Amazon bid.
The 42-acre High Street property near the Dunwoody MARTA Station has been floated in media reports as a possible location for the new $5 billion Amazon headquarters that Georgia officials are actively pursuing.
Dunwoody Economic Development Director Michael Starling said GID Development Group, the Boston-based developers for the site, continues to press forward, albeit slowly, with their plans for a massive mixed-use development at the intersection of Hammond Drive and Perimeter Parkway near the Sandy Springs border.
“They’re still out there,” Starling said of GID in a recent interview.
“We meet with them on a fairly regular basis. They say they are moving slowly toward a groundbreaking … at least that is what they tell us,” he said. “Of course, I’ve been saying that for a couple years.”
Starling said the push to bring Amazon to Georgia is being driven by the state Department of Economic Development and metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He said he has heard of the interest in the High Street location and said he believes its location across from MARTA makes it a contender.
“There’s really not a perfect site in any locale,” Starling said. “But High Street is across from MARTA.
“We’re waiting to get our guidance from our state partners,” he added of Dunwoody’s role in a possible Perimeter Center bid for the Amazon headquarters. “We are ready and prepared to put proposals together … and keep our fingers crossed.”
High Street has filed some preliminary plans with the city. GID’s Vice President of Development Jeff Lowenberg last year told members of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association his company planned to break ground early this year. No work to the site has begun, however.
“They certainly have not backed away from it,” Starling said of GID’s plans for High Street.
Representatives from GID could not be immediately reached for comment about their plans for the property.
GID bought the Perimeter Center Parkway property a decade ago for $83 million with plans to build a “vertical-urban” community. The economic recession hit, however, and put the project on hold.
Available plans for just the first phase of the High Street site include one 30-story residential tower, a 12-story office building, two seven-story residential buildings, two eight-story residential buildings, a 12-story residential building and several three-story townhouses. All residential buildings would have ground-floor retail.
Total residential units in phase one would include 500 apartments at more than 552,000 square feet and 75 condominiums at more than 237,000 square feet. Retail space totals 130,000 square feet and office space totals 250,000 square feet.
Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce officials have stated they have not heard any official word that the High Street site is being considered for the new headquarters.
After Amazon posted Sept. 7 to its website it was seeking to open “Amazon HQ2,” states across the country, including Georgia, have been compiling information to submit bids to the company by the Oct. 19 deadline.