After being deferred in January, an adaptive reuse on Buford Highway returned to Brookhaven Planning Commission on March 1.
The commission voted in support of the two-phase adaptive reuse project to create 400 housing units. The land use proposal will move on to Brookhaven City Council for a vote in late March.
Developer Land Hill LLC is proposing to rezone 2751 Buford Highway from Industrial (M) to Office-Institution (OI) to build a 190-unit apartment building with five residential levels atop partially underground podium parking and a 210-unit apartment building with 11 residential levels atop five levels of structured parking.
The parcel is 4 acres. Amenities will include a pool and bicycle parking. Commissioners in January noted the plan is lacking detail.
Commissioner Sherean Malekzadeh said building across from the Latin American Association gives the “opportunity to place make.”
“Will there be an opportunity to revisit [the plans] and maybe do something a little bit more exciting or interesting or architecturally fun? Buford Highway is an international corridor,” she said. “It feels like a missed opportunity.”
Commission chair Stan Segal was the only vote against the zoning ordinance. He said he had the same concerns as the last time Land Hill presented the plan.
“You haven’t come back in here with mixed use so we get some retail to help us with Buford Highway. You haven’t come in here to [address] one of the commissioner’s comments about being a catalyst,” Segal said. “How does it meet the criteria that this community spent so much time and effort in making a comprehensive plan and a Buford Highway overlay?”
The city is currently seeking a firm to review and revise the Comprehensive Plan, which is done every 10 years.
Adaptive reuse projects are on the rise in the area. Brookhaven City Council passed an adaptive reuse this week at 3 Corporate Square, which will bring 165 residential units to the area.
