Update: A developer’s plan to build a 20-story multi-family tower using mostly mass timber in Buckhead Village has received approval from the area’s development review committee.
Chicago-based Harbor Bay Ventures wants to build the more than 516,000-square-foot tower at 359 East Paces Ferry Road. It would include 314 units and 2,400 square feet of retail space. More than 300 residential parking spaces and 36 bicycle parking spaces are also planned.
In a memo to the city’s Office of Planning, the SPI-9 committee praised Harbor Bay Ventures for wanting to construct the tower using mass timber because it fits into Buckhead’s sustainability plan.
The SPI-9 committee reviews proposed projects primarily in Buckhead’s commercial district and provides its feedback to city planners to consider as part of their approval process.
Mass timber construction includes the nailing or gluing of numerous wood panels together to create large pieces. The large mass timber pieces are deemed strong, low-carbon alternatives to concrete and steel.
In Atlanta, the seven-story T3 West Midtown office building in Atlantic Station is one of the largest mass timber buildings in the country. Tenants of T3 West Midtown include Facebook.
At Ponce City Market, 619 Ponce is an under-construction, four-story loft office project using Georgia-grown timber and a regional supply chain.
The Buckhead development review committee also said it was pleased with Harbor Bay Ventures’ additional sustainability plans that include recycling collection areas, proposed composting areas and the use of low-flow toilets.
The committee’s complete memo:
Original story: A 20-story apartment tower with more than 300 units could be coming to the Buckhead Village District.
The building would rise at 359 East Paces Ferry Road, now a roughly 1-acre parking lot. The site is where Loudermilk Companies, one of the city’s largest developers, had plans to build an office tower before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Buckhead Development Review Committee is set to hear about the apartment tower project on May 3. Design documents are by Harbor Bay Ventures, a real estate development and investment firm based in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Loudermilk Companies, owner of the property, filed a special administrative permit (SAP) last week with the city for plans to build the tower with 314 units and ground floor retail. The building would include 45 studio units, 182 one-bedroom units, 82 two-bedroom units and 5 three-bedroom units.
The design documents include renderings for four townhomes on the first and second floors along Grandview Avenue, labeled Townhomes on Grandview.
Rent prices were not included in the SAP.
In 2019, Loudermilk Companies, founded by the late Aaron’s Inc. founder Charlie Loudermilk Sr. and his son Robin Loudermilk, sought a $2.2 million tax break from the Development Authority of Fulton County to build a 12-story office tower at 359 East Paces Ferry Road.
The tax break was rejected amid growing debate about Fulton County giving tax breaks to projects in hot development markets in the city of Atlanta such as Buckhead and along the Atlanta Beltline.
