A market study of the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard area from I-285 to Winters Chapel Road in Dunwoody shows the area currently too expensive to redevelop and meaning the apartment complexes in the area are essentially safe from being torn down, according to city consultants.
Gary Mongeon with Bleakly Advisory Group said at an Aug. 23 meeting on the PIB Study that the market study conducted by his group shows the land in the study area is valued at approximately $1.1 million per acre and that it would take more than $200 million to simply assemble the apartment complexes included in the area.
There are more than 2,000 apartments in the 200-acre study area where many of the city’s diverse and lower-income residents live. The apartment complexes include Peachtree Place North, Dunwoody Glen, Lacota and Dunwoody Village.
Total redevelopment of the area at these prices is “not realistic,” Mongeon told a group of more than 20 residents and city officials gathered Thursday at Crossroads Church on Tilly Mill Road.
If a public/private partnership was created with about $10 million to $20 million invested by the city into the redevelopment plans, then there is the possibility of major changes being made to area, Mongeon said.
And if Amazon were to locate its second headquarters in Atlanta, the current PIB market study could potentially change, Mongeon said in response to a resident’s question.
Councilmember Jim Riticher was at the meeting and said the numbers from the market study surprised city officials who believed the area was ripe for redevelopment due to the aging apartment complexes that are home to in the area. The idea was to have a plan in place when developers approached the city about ideas for the area.
“Our assumption was that developers would be coming into the area,” he said, “but that was not a good assumption.”
“What we learned is that is unlikely to be developed by private [companies] and I don’t think the City Council wants to do that,” he added.
The apartment complexes continue to be profitable and are filled with many blue-collar workers, young people and “lots and lots of kids,” said Adam Williamson of TSW, the planning company the city contracted with for the PIB Study.
Williams added that the market study showed it was “very unlikely the apartments would change.”
The market study showed there are 2,023 apartment units on 188 acres of the study area and there is an estimated 2.3 million square feet of buildings averaging out to less than 11 units per acre. Rents average at $1,260 per month.
Combined, these properties generate a net estimated annual income of $26.2 million, according to the market study.
“The values of the property caught us a little off guard,” said Councilmember Tom Lambert, whose district includes the study area.
“Now that we know redevelopment probably won’t happen we are turning our focus on other improvements, such as trails, better lighting and better infrastructure in the area.”