Portman Holdings is nixing tall buildings in its proposed Amsterdam Walk redevelopment in hopes of gaining Atlanta City Council approval for the project.
But many residents living in the Virginia-Highland and Morningside Lenox neighborhoods surrounding the nearly 11-acre site are still unhappy with the overall size of the project. They are coordinating an email and phone campaign to urge the council to vote against Portman’s plans. A vote could come as soon as March 17.
More than 150 people from the neighborhoods met online on March 3 for a Neighborhood Planning Unit F meeting to hear the about the latest revisions to the project since it went quiet last June.
The most notable changes are: commercial density is reduced from 490,000 square feet to 240,000 square feet; instead of 840 residential units, there could be up to 1,100; and maximum building height is capped at nine stories (or 180 feet).
The original site plan for the project included buildings standing 17 and 15 stories high before they were scaled down to 13 and eight stories, one of the hottest points of contention among area homeowners.
District 6 council member Alex Wan, who represents the Virginia-Highland and Morningside Lenox neighborhoods, explained that Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency chaired by Mayor Andre Dickens, recently approved a resolution granting Portman an easement on Evelyn Street.
Doing so allowed the city and Portman to discuss zoning and land use issues for the proposed development. The resolution also suggests Portman believes it has made enough changes to convince eight council members to vote in favor of the project, Wan said.
Portman ran into a wall of opposition last year when it revealed its plan to transform Amsterdam Walk, a small-scale retail district, into a massive development with towers up to 17 stories high, hundreds of apartments, and more than 1,400 parking spaces.
Amsterdam Walk, owned by Halpern, sits on prime real estate wedged in a junction where the two neighborhoods meet. The land also fronts the Atlanta Beltline and connects Piedmont Park to the Atlanta Botanical Garden.