Key points:
• A new player has entered the arena regarding a property located on Ashford Dunwoody Road.
• Lennar officials say they want to build 41 owner-occupied townhomes.
• LifeSouth will continue operations at its current location until the property’s disposition is determined.
• Attendees asked questions about constructing elevators as part of the plan, while others asked about green spaces and dog parks.
Our story incorrectly stated the LifeSouth Community Blood Drive building at 4891 Ashford Dunwoody Road is vacant. While LifeSouth has been pursuing a sale and redevelopment of its property, the blood donation center is open and operating at the location.
With the Red Cross warning of a statewide blood supply shortage, the Florida-based nonprofit wants Dunwoody residents to know they can still donate blood the Dunwoody location.
LifeSouth’s listing broker Joe Cannon, director at Chapman Hall Realtors in Alpharetta, said the nonprofit plans to lease or buy a smaller space in Dunwoody for a donation center if it successfully sells the property.
“The donation center will remain open until LifeSouth is successful in rezoning and closing on the property,” Cannon said. “Then, we’ll have the new location, hopefully opening shortly after it closes. We haven’t applied for a rezoning yet [for the current location], but we will in the coming few months.”’
About two dozen residents attended the Jan. 18 Dunwoody Homeowners Association meeting to learn about the newest plans to redevelop the LifeSouth Community Blood Center.
After the community killed a high-density, subsidized housing proposal last summer, a major American homebuilder is looking to give the city and its residents what they want — townhomes.
The Dunwoody City Council denied a rezoning application from Dominium Apartments with a unanimous vote in September. Dominium’s proposal for age-restricted affordable housing received overwhelming opposition from Dunwoody residents and several DHA members who objected to its density, height, and location.
Dunwoody Homeowner Association President Tim Brown said he expects more support for Lennar’s owner-occupied housing from DHA members after the community’s pushback on Dominium’s proposal.
“I would think that what you guys are proposing and how you’re proposing to do it might be a breath of fresh air for people in the room tonight,” Brown said.
Dominium had attempted to rezone the property from Office-Institution (O-I) to a Planned Development (PD) district that would allow it to construct more than 200 income- and age-restricted apartments on the site.
Lennar’s team said they’re pursuing a PC-3 rezoning, which adheres to the city’s existing code and zoning map.
Townhome specifics
Lennar’s site plan, in its early conceptual stages, has 41 units on the 3.42-acre site, split between two distinct townhome products that vary in width and square footage. Each of the six townhome clusters is three stories tall, and their density aligns with surrounding residential developments at just under 12 units per acre.
During the citywide nonprofit’s first meeting since October, several DHA members expressed their support and asked whether elevator shafts would be included. Lennar built townhomes along Dunwoody Village Parkway, and they included some empty shafts to allow residents to install elevators.
One attendee said her friend purchased one of the townhomes near the Village. After developing a health issue, she had an elevator installed, allowing her to stay in her home. While most of the conversation from DHA members centered on the elevator situation, younger DHA members inquired about access to green spaces and a dog park.
The proposed HOA-managed community also includes landscaped buffers, connecting sidewalks, and an internal street network with emergency vehicle access.
Lennar’s plans for zoning change application
Nat Ackerman, land acquisitions manager for Lennar’s Atlanta Division, said the two townhome products are 20-by-44 and 14-by-40 feet, each with three bedrooms, a half-bath, and a rear-load two-car garage.
The larger, 2,100-square-foot unit has an estimated price of $650,000. The smaller townhomes are about 1,500 square feet with an estimated $500,000 asking price. Land values and lingering inflation limit the feasibility of affordability, Ackerman said.
“This layout is conceptual but continues to show the overall organization, rather than the final engineering,” Ackerman said. “We definitely place strong emphasis on long-term quality and appearances. That variation in durable materials obviously helps ensure that the community remains attractive over time.”
After the presentation to the DHA, Ackerman said Lennar has not yet submitted a rezoning application to the Dunwoody Planning Commission. City code requires a six-month wait after an application’s denial until a waiver can be submitted, which is the first step in the process.
“Tonight’s meeting is the first step in our effort to engage early,” Ackerman said.