Trump cost-cutting could target large Atlanta federal buildings for consolidation, disposal
Trump cost-cutting could target large Atlanta federal buildings for consolidation, disposal
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings.
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings. Read MoreBizjournals.com Feed (2019-09-06 17:16:48)
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings.
Trump cost-cutting could target large Atlanta federal buildings for consolidation, disposal
Trump cost-cutting could target large Atlanta federal buildings for consolidation, disposal
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings.
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings. Read MoreBizjournals.com Feed (2022-04-02 21:43:57)
On the list of real estate the federal government could dispose of under President Donald Trump are three Downtown federal buildings.
Images: Lavish Atlanta modern bound for cleared acreage
Images: Lavish Atlanta modern bound for cleared acreage
Images: Lavish Atlanta modern bound for cleared acreage
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 16:45
The local impact of homebuyers from pricier coastal markets exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has hardly abated in Atlanta, nearly five years later.
That’s according to the listing team and modern-home design experts behind a new $4.5 million listing set to claim a cleared site in Buckhead near Blue Heron Nature Preserve, marking another big bet on the allure of contemporary architect around the city.
“With so many buyers relocating to Atlanta from California, Florida, and New York, we’ve seen a huge trend towards bigger and more design-forward modern homes,” notes Compass listing agent Matthew Doyle, who helps operate the @AtlantaModernHomes social media handle.
Doyle’s latest listing is planned for a .6-acre site at 3939 Ivy Road, situated just south of Wieuca Road and west of Ga. Highway 400.
The project—designed by Scott West of West Architecture Studio, and set to be built by West’s company Lucid Development—calls for five bedrooms and five and ½ bathrooms in 6,400 square feet. That’s a breakdown of $703 per square foot.
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Doyle’s team sold the largest spec modern home ever built in Atlanta last year—a 13,000-square-foot sprawler in Buckhead’s Mt. Paran neighborhood—but the Ivy Road project is different, in that it’s being offered on a pre-construction basis and not spec, he said.
“It’s fully permitted and will take about 12 months to complete,” Doyle noted via email. “We’re promoting it as a semi-custom home, as there still is opportunity for potential buyers to work directly with [West] on selecting some of the finishes and possibly tweaking the design.”
Highlights of that two-story design call for 10-foot ceilings and large aluminum-framed windows, an owners suite with attached spa bath on the main floor, a breakfast bar in the sleek kitchen, and a sizable covered patio near the heated saltwater pool.
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Other aspects will include a three-car garage, a home security system, and landscaping befitting the contemporary style.
Collectively it’s marketed as a “rare opportunity” and “future contemporary masterpiece.”
Find a quick tour of what 3939 Ivy Road is expected to become in the gallery above. (White Ferrari not included).
…
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• Buckhead news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Images: Lavish Atlanta modern bound for cleared acreage
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 16:45
The local impact of homebuyers from pricier coastal markets exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has hardly abated in Atlanta, nearly five years later.That’s according to the listing team and modern-home design experts behind a new $4.5 million listing set to claim a cleared site in Buckhead near Blue Heron Nature Preserve, marking another big bet on the allure of contemporary architect around the city. “With so many buyers relocating to Atlanta from California, Florida, and New York, we’ve seen a huge trend towards bigger and more design-forward modern homes,” notes Compass listing agent Matthew Doyle, who helps operate the @AtlantaModernHomes social media handle. Doyle’s latest listing is planned for a .6-acre site at 3939 Ivy Road, situated just south of Wieuca Road and west of Ga. Highway 400. The project—designed by Scott West of West Architecture Studio, and set to be built by West’s company Lucid Development—calls for five bedrooms and five and ½ bathrooms in 6,400 square feet. That’s a breakdown of $703 per square foot.
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Doyle’s team sold the largest spec modern home ever built in Atlanta last year—a 13,000-square-foot sprawler in Buckhead’s Mt. Paran neighborhood—but the Ivy Road project is different, in that it’s being offered on a pre-construction basis and not spec, he said. “It’s fully permitted and will take about 12 months to complete,” Doyle noted via email. “We’re promoting it as a semi-custom home, as there still is opportunity for potential buyers to work directly with [West] on selecting some of the finishes and possibly tweaking the design.”Highlights of that two-story design call for 10-foot ceilings and large aluminum-framed windows, an owners suite with attached spa bath on the main floor, a breakfast bar in the sleek kitchen, and a sizable covered patio near the heated saltwater pool.
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Other aspects will include a three-car garage, a home security system, and landscaping befitting the contemporary style. Collectively it’s marketed as a “rare opportunity” and “future contemporary masterpiece.” Find a quick tour of what 3939 Ivy Road is expected to become in the gallery above. (White Ferrari not included). …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Buckhead news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
3939 Ivy Road NE
West Architecture Studio
Lucid Development
Compass
Matthew Doyle
David Goodrowe
Atlanta Architects
Atlanta Architecture
Atlanta Modern Homes
Modern Homes
modern design
Buckhead Modern Home
Modern Architecture
Interior Design
Images
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Subtitle
$4.5M Buckhead project moves forward near Blue Heron Nature Preserve
Neighborhood
Buckhead
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off Read More
Images: Lavish Atlanta modern bound for cleared acreage
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 16:45
The local impact of homebuyers from pricier coastal markets exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has hardly abated in Atlanta, nearly five years later.That’s according to the listing team and modern-home design experts behind a new $4.5 million listing set to claim a cleared site in Buckhead near Blue Heron Nature Preserve, marking another big bet on the allure of contemporary architect around the city. “With so many buyers relocating to Atlanta from California, Florida, and New York, we’ve seen a huge trend towards bigger and more design-forward modern homes,” notes Compass listing agent Matthew Doyle, who helps operate the @AtlantaModernHomes social media handle. Doyle’s latest listing is planned for a .6-acre site at 3939 Ivy Road, situated just south of Wieuca Road and west of Ga. Highway 400. The project—designed by Scott West of West Architecture Studio, and set to be built by West’s company Lucid Development—calls for five bedrooms and five and ½ bathrooms in 6,400 square feet. That’s a breakdown of $703 per square foot.
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Doyle’s team sold the largest spec modern home ever built in Atlanta last year—a 13,000-square-foot sprawler in Buckhead’s Mt. Paran neighborhood—but the Ivy Road project is different, in that it’s being offered on a pre-construction basis and not spec, he said. “It’s fully permitted and will take about 12 months to complete,” Doyle noted via email. “We’re promoting it as a semi-custom home, as there still is opportunity for potential buyers to work directly with [West] on selecting some of the finishes and possibly tweaking the design.”Highlights of that two-story design call for 10-foot ceilings and large aluminum-framed windows, an owners suite with attached spa bath on the main floor, a breakfast bar in the sleek kitchen, and a sizable covered patio near the heated saltwater pool.
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Other aspects will include a three-car garage, a home security system, and landscaping befitting the contemporary style. Collectively it’s marketed as a “rare opportunity” and “future contemporary masterpiece.” Find a quick tour of what 3939 Ivy Road is expected to become in the gallery above. (White Ferrari not included). …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Buckhead news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
3939 Ivy Road NE
West Architecture Studio
Lucid Development
Compass
Matthew Doyle
David Goodrowe
Atlanta Architects
Atlanta Architecture
Atlanta Modern Homes
Modern Homes
modern design
Buckhead Modern Home
Modern Architecture
Interior Design
Images
The 3939 Ivy Road parcel in relation to Blue Heron Nature Preserve, Chastain Park, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
How the 6,400-square-foot project will be sited on an Ivy Road hill, just south of Wieuca Road. West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
West Architecture Studio; courtesy of Compass
Subtitle
$4.5M Buckhead project moves forward near Blue Heron Nature Preserve
Neighborhood
Buckhead
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off
Plans: Old Fourth Ward project to replace single house near park
Plans: Old Fourth Ward project to replace single house near park
Plans: Old Fourth Ward project to replace single house near park
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 15:18
At the edge of a popular intown park, a uniquely dense project is gearing up to climb from a parcel occupied by a single house today.
The six-story apartment venture would rise on a corner parcel at 389 Linden Ave., overlooking Central Park and the skylines of downtown and Midtown beyond that, according to filings made this week with Atlanta’s Department of City Planning.
The project previously came before Old Fourth Ward’s Neighborhood Planning Unit–M in the fall of 2021 but has gone quiet since.
According to plans drawn up by metro Atlanta-based GJR Architect, a residential and commercial firm, the building would include 24 apartments at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Linden Avenue and Hunt Street.
The site is about a block south of North Avenue, just west of Boulevard.
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The .2-acre parcel is owned by an LLC named for the address, 389 Linden Ave. LLC, led by Reshma Maherali, records show.
The current three-bedroom, brick home on site dates to around 1920, according to Fulton County property records.
The building would top out at 70 feet, with usable space on the rooftop and 18 vehicle parking spaces where the same developer had once proposed townhomes, as What Now Atlanta reported in 2021. The site has already been rezoned for multifamily development.
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Just east of the corner in question, on the opposite side of the same street, a 31-unit townhome project is also in the pipeline from intown developers PacificPoint Realty.
Swing up to the gallery for more site context for 389 Linden Ave.
…
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram
• Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
Proximity of the six-story proposal to Central Park in Old Fourth Ward. Google Maps
Plans: Old Fourth Ward project to replace single house near park
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 15:18
At the edge of a popular intown park, a uniquely dense project is gearing up to climb from a parcel occupied by a single house today. The six-story apartment venture would rise on a corner parcel at 389 Linden Ave., overlooking Central Park and the skylines of downtown and Midtown beyond that, according to filings made this week with Atlanta’s Department of City Planning. The project previously came before Old Fourth Ward’s Neighborhood Planning Unit–M in the fall of 2021 but has gone quiet since. According to plans drawn up by metro Atlanta-based GJR Architect, a residential and commercial firm, the building would include 24 apartments at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. The site is about a block south of North Avenue, just west of Boulevard.
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The .2-acre parcel is owned by an LLC named for the address, 389 Linden Ave. LLC, led by Reshma Maherali, records show. The current three-bedroom, brick home on site dates to around 1920, according to Fulton County property records. The building would top out at 70 feet, with usable space on the rooftop and 18 vehicle parking spaces where the same developer had once proposed townhomes, as What Now Atlanta reported in 2021. The site has already been rezoned for multifamily development.
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Just east of the corner in question, on the opposite side of the same street, a 31-unit townhome project is also in the pipeline from intown developers PacificPoint Realty. Swing up to the gallery for more site context for 389 Linden Ave. …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
389 Linden Ave. NE
Gabriel J. Richard
O4W
Atlanta Development
Atlanta Construction
Atlanta Architecture
Atlanta apartments
Linden Avenue
Hunt Street
Atai Constrution
Central Park
Infill Development
Atlanta Infill
GJR Architect
Images
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
Proximity of the six-story proposal to Central Park in Old Fourth Ward. Google Maps
Subtitle
Six-story structure would climb from corner near Ponce, Boulevard, filings indicate
Neighborhood
Old Fourth Ward
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off Read More
Plans: Old Fourth Ward project to replace single house near park
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 15:18
At the edge of a popular intown park, a uniquely dense project is gearing up to climb from a parcel occupied by a single house today. The six-story apartment venture would rise on a corner parcel at 389 Linden Ave., overlooking Central Park and the skylines of downtown and Midtown beyond that, according to filings made this week with Atlanta’s Department of City Planning. The project previously came before Old Fourth Ward’s Neighborhood Planning Unit–M in the fall of 2021 but has gone quiet since. According to plans drawn up by metro Atlanta-based GJR Architect, a residential and commercial firm, the building would include 24 apartments at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. The site is about a block south of North Avenue, just west of Boulevard.
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The .2-acre parcel is owned by an LLC named for the address, 389 Linden Ave. LLC, led by Reshma Maherali, records show. The current three-bedroom, brick home on site dates to around 1920, according to Fulton County property records. The building would top out at 70 feet, with usable space on the rooftop and 18 vehicle parking spaces where the same developer had once proposed townhomes, as What Now Atlanta reported in 2021. The site has already been rezoned for multifamily development.
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Just east of the corner in question, on the opposite side of the same street, a 31-unit townhome project is also in the pipeline from intown developers PacificPoint Realty. Swing up to the gallery for more site context for 389 Linden Ave. …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
389 Linden Ave. NE
Gabriel J. Richard
O4W
Atlanta Development
Atlanta Construction
Atlanta Architecture
Atlanta apartments
Linden Avenue
Hunt Street
Atai Constrution
Central Park
Infill Development
Atlanta Infill
GJR Architect
Images
The 389 Linden Ave. site’s location in relation to Ponce City Market (top right), Central Park, and other landmarks. Google Maps
The corner lot and single-family home in question, as seen in 2023. Google Maps
Proposed facade that would overlook the park, over Linden Avenue and Hunt Street. Gabriel J. Richard Architect/GJC Architect
Proximity of the six-story proposal to Central Park in Old Fourth Ward. Google Maps
Subtitle
Six-story structure would climb from corner near Ponce, Boulevard, filings indicate
Neighborhood
Old Fourth Ward
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off
Interior demolition planned for former Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter
Interior demolition planned for former Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission.
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission. Read MoreBizjournals.com Feed (2019-09-06 17:16:48)
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission.
Interior demolition planned for former Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter
Interior demolition planned for former Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission.
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission. Read MoreBizjournals.com Feed (2022-04-02 21:43:57)
Emory says it wants to “better assess” how the building can support its mission.
Transit-oriented, 350-apartment development officially a go
Transit-oriented, 350-apartment development officially a go
Transit-oriented, 350-apartment development officially a go
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 10:17
An influx of new housing near Central Perimeter MARTA stations shows few signs of slowing down, with well over 1,000 units recently delivered or now in the pipeline.
National developer High Street Residential has officially broken ground on a Brookhaven mid-rise project called Residences at Perimeter Summit, a 350-unit apartment venture with two signed restaurant concepts in the mix nearby.
The seven-story building will rise at 1251 Perimeter Summit Parkway, just south of Perimeter Mall within the Interstate 285 loop. In an announcement today, HSR officials called Brookhaven “one of the most desirable suburbs in Georgia.”
Last year HSR, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, closed on 4 acres of land to build the Residences—what project leaders have called a transit-oriented development within walking distance of two MARTA hubs served by rail.
By foot, MARTA’s Medical Center station is roughly a mile away, and Dunwoody station about 1.2 miles.
As designed by the Cooper Carry architecture firm, the Residences project will include studios to three-bedroom apartments with around 900 square feet on average. Plans call for five floors of residential over two parking levels, with a 475-space garage.
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Amenities are set to include three courtyards, a resort-style pool and dog park, a clubroom, fitness center, coworking space, golf simulator, pet spa, sauna, and an elevated resident lounge with a kitchen for entertaining and views of the Perimeter skyline, according to High Street officials.
The apartments, all classified as luxury, will be part of the larger Perimeter Summit district, a 1.7-million-square-foot campus purchased by Spear Street Capital in 2022 with buildings standing 21, 18, and 16 stories. Access to existing walking trails around that complex will be another perk of the apartments, per HSR officials.
The Residences are scheduled to deliver by late 2026, with New South Construction onboard to build it.
“Brookhaven, with its historic charm and proximity to one of the liveliest office markets in the country, provides a premier living experience,” Scott Kirchhoff, a principal with HSR’s Atlanta office, noted in today’s groundbreaking announcement.
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Beyond the apartments, Perimeter Summit includes office and retail space spread across four buildings total, plus a condo building and 182-room hotel.
According to HSR, Spear Street has attracted “multiple high-profile headquarters relocations and innovation hubs” to the revived Perimeter Summit complex since acquiring it. The company has also partnered with STHRN Hospitality to bring two new restaurants to the development, The Little Gem and Pizza Stop. Both are set to open this year, per HSR.
Elsewhere in Atlanta, HSR recently developed the multifamily component of Georgia Tech’s 18-acre Science Square project on the Westside, The Grace Residences.
In other Central Perimeter residential news, GID Development Group finished the first two apartment buildings in its massive High Street venture last year. Those include 598 apartments within a short walk of MARTA’s Dunwoody station.
Also in Brookhaven, a nearby AMLI-branded, mixed-use project has started delivering another 630 rentals in four buildings. Walkability to MARTA stations is also flaunted as a perk of that project.
A year ago, plans for another 300 multifamily residences were also floated for the last remaining parcel next to insurance giant State Farm’s towering Central Perimeter campus.
…
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram
• Brookhaven news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Transit-oriented, 350-apartment development officially a go
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 10:17
An influx of new housing near Central Perimeter MARTA stations shows few signs of slowing down, with well over 1,000 units recently delivered or now in the pipeline. National developer High Street Residential has officially broken ground on a Brookhaven mid-rise project called Residences at Perimeter Summit, a 350-unit apartment venture with two signed restaurant concepts in the mix nearby. The seven-story building will rise at 1251 Perimeter Summit Parkway, just south of Perimeter Mall within the Interstate 285 loop. In an announcement today, HSR officials called Brookhaven “one of the most desirable suburbs in Georgia.”Last year HSR, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, closed on 4 acres of land to build the Residences—what project leaders have called a transit-oriented development within walking distance of two MARTA hubs served by rail. By foot, MARTA’s Medical Center station is roughly a mile away, and Dunwoody station about 1.2 miles.As designed by the Cooper Carry architecture firm, the Residences project will include studios to three-bedroom apartments with around 900 square feet on average. Plans call for five floors of residential over two parking levels, with a 475-space garage.
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Amenities are set to include three courtyards, a resort-style pool and dog park, a clubroom, fitness center, coworking space, golf simulator, pet spa, sauna, and an elevated resident lounge with a kitchen for entertaining and views of the Perimeter skyline, according to High Street officials.The apartments, all classified as luxury, will be part of the larger Perimeter Summit district, a 1.7-million-square-foot campus purchased by Spear Street Capital in 2022 with buildings standing 21, 18, and 16 stories. Access to existing walking trails around that complex will be another perk of the apartments, per HSR officials. The Residences are scheduled to deliver by late 2026, with New South Construction onboard to build it. “Brookhaven, with its historic charm and proximity to one of the liveliest office markets in the country, provides a premier living experience,” Scott Kirchhoff, a principal with HSR’s Atlanta office, noted in today’s groundbreaking announcement.
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Beyond the apartments, Perimeter Summit includes office and retail space spread across four buildings total, plus a condo building and 182-room hotel.According to HSR, Spear Street has attracted “multiple high-profile headquarters relocations and innovation hubs” to the revived Perimeter Summit complex since acquiring it. The company has also partnered with STHRN Hospitality to bring two new restaurants to the development, The Little Gem and Pizza Stop. Both are set to open this year, per HSR. Elsewhere in Atlanta, HSR recently developed the multifamily component of Georgia Tech’s 18-acre Science Square project on the Westside, The Grace Residences. In other Central Perimeter residential news, GID Development Group finished the first two apartment buildings in its massive High Street venture last year. Those include 598 apartments within a short walk of MARTA’s Dunwoody station. Also in Brookhaven, a nearby AMLI-branded, mixed-use project has started delivering another 630 rentals in four buildings. Walkability to MARTA stations is also flaunted as a perk of that project. A year ago, plans for another 300 multifamily residences were also floated for the last remaining parcel next to insurance giant State Farm’s towering Central Perimeter campus. …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Brookhaven news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
1251 Perimeter Summit Parkway
5005 Perimeter Summit Boulevard
Perimeter Summit
High Street Residential
Trammell Crow Company
City of Brookhaven
Central Perimeter
Perimeter
MARTA
TOD
Transit-Oriented Development
TODs
MARTA trains (38877
Dunwoody MARTA Station
Alternate Transportation
Alternative Transportation
Atlanta apartments
Brookhaven Apartments
Atlanta Development
Multifamily Development
Perimeter Mall
Cooper Carry
Spear Street Capital
STHRN Hospitality
The Little Gem
Pizza Stop
New South Construction
Images
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Subtitle
Builders stress proximity to two MARTA stations for Brookhaven’s Residences at Perimeter Summit
Neighborhood
Brookhaven
Background Image
Image
Associated Project
The Residences at Perimeter Summit
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off Read More
Transit-oriented, 350-apartment development officially a go
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 10:17
An influx of new housing near Central Perimeter MARTA stations shows few signs of slowing down, with well over 1,000 units recently delivered or now in the pipeline. National developer High Street Residential has officially broken ground on a Brookhaven mid-rise project called Residences at Perimeter Summit, a 350-unit apartment venture with two signed restaurant concepts in the mix nearby. The seven-story building will rise at 1251 Perimeter Summit Parkway, just south of Perimeter Mall within the Interstate 285 loop. In an announcement today, HSR officials called Brookhaven “one of the most desirable suburbs in Georgia.”Last year HSR, a subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, closed on 4 acres of land to build the Residences—what project leaders have called a transit-oriented development within walking distance of two MARTA hubs served by rail. By foot, MARTA’s Medical Center station is roughly a mile away, and Dunwoody station about 1.2 miles.As designed by the Cooper Carry architecture firm, the Residences project will include studios to three-bedroom apartments with around 900 square feet on average. Plans call for five floors of residential over two parking levels, with a 475-space garage.
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Amenities are set to include three courtyards, a resort-style pool and dog park, a clubroom, fitness center, coworking space, golf simulator, pet spa, sauna, and an elevated resident lounge with a kitchen for entertaining and views of the Perimeter skyline, according to High Street officials.The apartments, all classified as luxury, will be part of the larger Perimeter Summit district, a 1.7-million-square-foot campus purchased by Spear Street Capital in 2022 with buildings standing 21, 18, and 16 stories. Access to existing walking trails around that complex will be another perk of the apartments, per HSR officials. The Residences are scheduled to deliver by late 2026, with New South Construction onboard to build it. “Brookhaven, with its historic charm and proximity to one of the liveliest office markets in the country, provides a premier living experience,” Scott Kirchhoff, a principal with HSR’s Atlanta office, noted in today’s groundbreaking announcement.
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Beyond the apartments, Perimeter Summit includes office and retail space spread across four buildings total, plus a condo building and 182-room hotel.According to HSR, Spear Street has attracted “multiple high-profile headquarters relocations and innovation hubs” to the revived Perimeter Summit complex since acquiring it. The company has also partnered with STHRN Hospitality to bring two new restaurants to the development, The Little Gem and Pizza Stop. Both are set to open this year, per HSR. Elsewhere in Atlanta, HSR recently developed the multifamily component of Georgia Tech’s 18-acre Science Square project on the Westside, The Grace Residences. In other Central Perimeter residential news, GID Development Group finished the first two apartment buildings in its massive High Street venture last year. Those include 598 apartments within a short walk of MARTA’s Dunwoody station. Also in Brookhaven, a nearby AMLI-branded, mixed-use project has started delivering another 630 rentals in four buildings. Walkability to MARTA stations is also flaunted as a perk of that project. A year ago, plans for another 300 multifamily residences were also floated for the last remaining parcel next to insurance giant State Farm’s towering Central Perimeter campus. …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Brookhaven news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
1251 Perimeter Summit Parkway
5005 Perimeter Summit Boulevard
Perimeter Summit
High Street Residential
Trammell Crow Company
City of Brookhaven
Central Perimeter
Perimeter
MARTA
TOD
Transit-Oriented Development
TODs
MARTA trains (38877
Dunwoody MARTA Station
Alternate Transportation
Alternative Transportation
Atlanta apartments
Brookhaven Apartments
Atlanta Development
Multifamily Development
Perimeter Mall
Cooper Carry
Spear Street Capital
STHRN Hospitality
The Little Gem
Pizza Stop
New South Construction
Images
The site’s proximity to Perimeter Mall (above), Interstate 285, and Ga. Highway 400. Google Maps
Courtesy of High Street Residential; designs, Cooper Carry
Subtitle
Builders stress proximity to two MARTA stations for Brookhaven’s Residences at Perimeter Summit
Neighborhood
Brookhaven
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Associated Project
The Residences at Perimeter Summit
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High Street Starts Work on Perimeter Summit Apartments
High Street Starts Work on Perimeter Summit Apartments
High Street Residential (HSR), the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, has broken ground on the Residences at Perimeter Summit. The seven-story, 350-unit mid-rise multifamily community is located in Brookhaven, Georgia. HSR paid $11.5 million for the property at 1251 Perimeter Summit Pkwy. The project is part of Perimeter Summit, a mixed-use community consisting of 1.7 million square feet of office and retail space across four buildings, a 182-room hotel, and a condo building.
The Residences at Perimeter Summit will include units from 900 square feet to mid-1,400 square feet. Unit amenities will include private balconies in select units. The project will also boast amenities such as an elevated pool, three spacious courtyards, a 1,200-square-foot speakeasy lounge, a fitness center, a clubroom, a coworking center, private conference and study rooms, a tasting room, a pet spa, and a golf simulator.
Cooper Carry is leading the design of the project, and New South Construction is providing construction services for the development
The post High Street Starts Work on Perimeter Summit Apartments appeared first on Connect CRE.
High Street Residential (HSR), the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, has broken ground on the Residences at Perimeter Summit. The seven-story, 350-unit mid-rise multifamily community is located in Brookhaven, Georgia. HSR paid $11.5 million for the property at 1251 Perimeter Summit Pkwy. The project is part of Perimeter Summit, a mixed-use community consisting of …
The post High Street Starts Work on Perimeter Summit Apartments appeared first on Connect CRE. Read MoreAtlanta Commercial Real Estate News
High Street Residential (HSR), the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, has broken ground on the Residences at Perimeter Summit. The seven-story, 350-unit mid-rise multifamily community is located in Brookhaven, Georgia. HSR paid $11.5 million for the property at 1251 Perimeter Summit Pkwy. The project is part of Perimeter Summit, a mixed-use community consisting of …
The post High Street Starts Work on Perimeter Summit Apartments appeared first on Connect CRE.
Transit advocate: How MARTA can quickly, noticeably improve
Transit advocate: How MARTA can quickly, noticeably improve
Transit advocate: How MARTA can quickly, noticeably improve
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 08:43
Most people who follow Atlanta urban planning would associate Matthew Rao with his passion project—chairing the transit advocacy group Beltline Rail Now, which he’s done since 2021. But as an Atlantan of 50 years and Georgia Tech-educated industrial designer by day, Rao has followed MARTA literally since its beginnings. His father took him, as a kid, to watch the first test-runs for MARTA’s east-west trains in the late 1970s. A spectacle, indeed.
Inspired by a recent, witty reader comment on these pages—as spotlighted Saturday on our social media feeds—Rao got to thinking not about the long-term prospects of light-rail cars zipping along the Beltline, but about how MARTA could quickly take steps to improve public perception, in his estimation. The following Letter to the Editor is “written from my perspective as a citizen, resident, and business owner in Midtown,” he notes. It’s been lightly edited for clarity and length.
…
Dear Editor,
I live three blocks from the Midtown MARTA station and chose to live where I do, within walking distance to a station, as a requirement. I later moved my business to a storefront here to further reduce my carbon footprint, create access for all of my employees present and future, and to make riding MARTA as easy as possible.
I ride MARTA rail about once per week, on average. I nearly always take it to the airport, and I will take it to Buckhead, downtown, or various other points. I walk to work, so no transit is needed for a commute.
In other words: I’m the “transit-optional” rider MARTA needs to court.
Our MARTA rail system is one of only three like it, the others being Washington D.C.’s Metrorail and San Francisco’s BART. There are other fine American metro systems built since those three, but Atlanta, D.C., and the Bay Area are special in a variety of ways.
Having lived here since middle school, I was around for MARTA’s opening day. There was a giddiness in the air that I still remember. Atlanta, whose metro population was less than 1.5 million in the late 1970s—yes, that’s right—was joining the league of big cities. The tallest buildings in all of Midtown were the “towers” of Colony Square. City leaders knew then that building the subway with three stations, serving the then low-density Midtown, would create the conditions for its morphing from a residential neighborhood into a city. It has. And it’s getting denser all the time.
During the mid-1990s Olympics era, there was such pride in our system. The trains ran often and late into the night—and they were packed. The venues were clustered to take advantage of station locations. No one drove a car to attend the Games.
I felt that same sense of pride and excitement as MARTA recently unveiled its new railcars. The excitement, in fact, was palpable and intense for the new Swiss-made trainsets. They are beautiful, with interiors designed for today’s lifestyles, including spaces for bikes and wheelchairs and luggage. A four-car train holds more passengers than the current six-car model, and two of these can be coupled together.
We’ll soon have the best metro railcars in America. That’s something to celebrate!
The front exteriors of railcars will have a lighted “smile” in either red, gold, blue, or green that denotes the color of each approaching rail line, per MARTA. Courtesy of MARTA
But a new fleet alone won’t make MARTA the agency it needs to be, nor will it necessarily make ridership recover and grow. For generations to come, MARTA will be the only transit agency we have. Let’s support change and make it happen. There’s a desire on the inside at MARTA—as I’ve personally seen—to become one of the nation’s leading transit agencies, as measured by ridership and rider satisfaction. But they haven’t gotten there yet.
Other cities are recovering and exceeding their pre-pandemic levels of ridership. So what’ll bring transit-optional riders like me back onboard with MARTA, riding more often?
It’s a long list. But MARTA can do some things this year, right now:
1. Clean it up.
It saddens me to imagine the incredible new Swiss-made railcars maintained like the ones we have now. I ride transit all over the world, and there are cities that do and cities that don’t when it comes to cleanliness and states of good repair. That goes for the trains and the stations. Have the beautiful stainless steel HVAC ducts at Peachtree Center station been cleaned since the Olympics?
2. Increase frequency, especially at night and on weekends.
We shouldn’t ever wait more than 10 minutes for a train. Often on the Red and Gold lines during weekdays, I don’t. But when you wait too long, the transit-optional rider considers ride-share. We aren’t just commuters anymore, and we need an urban rail system to work for our lives. That’s a 24-7 life—not a 9-to-6 life.
3. Make MARTA feel safer.
Shutterstock
I don’t know what the stats are, but we have to accept the reality that many Atlantans won’t ride MARTA because they don’t feel safe, especially at night. Make sure everyone riding has a valid ticket and that MARTA police patrol trains and stations. Don’t allow bad behavior and enforce the rules we already have. That makes us all feel better about being encapsulated in a train for 15, 20, or 40 minutes.
4. Move forward as fast as possible with the $12-billion More MARTA expansion.
Show progress. Stop the endless study and reevaluation of the projects defined in 2019 and get on with it. These bus-rapid transit and light-rail projects coupled with station improvements do another thing that we need: connect the many nodes of density to each other and to the rest of the city. That means a one-connection ride from whenever you are to more places that we all want to reach.
It’s clear the suburban counties are not ready to join MARTA, and when given the opportunity to expand their own systems this past November, they rejected that soundly. They don’t want transit. Not yet. More MARTA is for the City of Atlanta. Only. Let’s worry about that as far as expansion goes.
5. Stop the truncation of the Red and Green lines after 9 p.m. and run them all the way, end to end, at all times.
The forced transfer to the Gold and Blue lines means more hassle, more time spent waiting for a train, and a loss of riders. And for those on the Gold line between the Airport and Lindbergh, a longer wait for a more crowded train. Cities don’t do this when they want to attract more riders and keep cars off the road. Extend the Green line to Avondale and use the third platform there for riders to transfer from a Blue train to a Green train.
6. Use the Breeze system we already have to change the fare system and graduate the fare.
I often don’t take MARTA one or two stops because the fare is high for that. And visitors to the city going from Airport to North Springs stations pay the same as I do to go one stop. Decreasing the fare for short trips and increasing it for longer ones is what those systems like BART and Metrorail did from day one. This stimulates rides for short trips and increases revenue from longer ones. Those with monthly passes and students would not experience a fee hike. Only the single-use, transit-optional rider like me. It costs $30 to $35 for a one-way ride to the airport (without surge pricing). Would I pay $5 or even $7 for that on the train? Absolutely.
A juxtaposition of MARTA’s first CQ400 train to be operational on tracks (left) and a current railcar. Courtesy of MARTA
How the new MARTA railcars’ open gangway designs allow for passenger travel throughout the train. Courtesy of MARTA
Big picture, creating more density near and at the MARTA stations we have and modifying land use policies is another realm of possibility for growing ridership.
The lesson of the early 21st century is that unless we expand the American Dream in a way that makes a family consider other options than a single-family house with a yard in a far-flung suburb that was once a forest or farm, we won’t ever be able to build enough MARTA.
Chasing the suburbs with MARTA rail is exactly what we don’t need to do.
— Matthew Rao
…
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram
• Recent MARTA news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Transit advocate: How MARTA can quickly, noticeably improve
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 08:43
Most people who follow Atlanta urban planning would associate Matthew Rao with his passion project—chairing the transit advocacy group Beltline Rail Now, which he’s done since 2021. But as an Atlantan of 50 years and Georgia Tech-educated industrial designer by day, Rao has followed MARTA literally since its beginnings. His father took him, as a kid, to watch the first test-runs for MARTA’s east-west trains in the late 1970s. A spectacle, indeed. Inspired by a recent, witty reader comment on these pages—as spotlighted Saturday on our social media feeds—Rao got to thinking not about the long-term prospects of light-rail cars zipping along the Beltline, but about how MARTA could quickly take steps to improve public perception, in his estimation. The following Letter to the Editor is “written from my perspective as a citizen, resident, and business owner in Midtown,” he notes. It’s been lightly edited for clarity and length. …Dear Editor, I live three blocks from the Midtown MARTA station and chose to live where I do, within walking distance to a station, as a requirement. I later moved my business to a storefront here to further reduce my carbon footprint, create access for all of my employees present and future, and to make riding MARTA as easy as possible. I ride MARTA rail about once per week, on average. I nearly always take it to the airport, and I will take it to Buckhead, downtown, or various other points. I walk to work, so no transit is needed for a commute. In other words: I’m the “transit-optional” rider MARTA needs to court. Our MARTA rail system is one of only three like it, the others being Washington D.C.’s Metrorail and San Francisco’s BART. There are other fine American metro systems built since those three, but Atlanta, D.C., and the Bay Area are special in a variety of ways. Having lived here since middle school, I was around for MARTA’s opening day. There was a giddiness in the air that I still remember. Atlanta, whose metro population was less than 1.5 million in the late 1970s—yes, that’s right—was joining the league of big cities. The tallest buildings in all of Midtown were the “towers” of Colony Square. City leaders knew then that building the subway with three stations, serving the then low-density Midtown, would create the conditions for its morphing from a residential neighborhood into a city. It has. And it’s getting denser all the time.During the mid-1990s Olympics era, there was such pride in our system. The trains ran often and late into the night—and they were packed. The venues were clustered to take advantage of station locations. No one drove a car to attend the Games. I felt that same sense of pride and excitement as MARTA recently unveiled its new railcars. The excitement, in fact, was palpable and intense for the new Swiss-made trainsets. They are beautiful, with interiors designed for today’s lifestyles, including spaces for bikes and wheelchairs and luggage. A four-car train holds more passengers than the current six-car model, and two of these can be coupled together. We’ll soon have the best metro railcars in America. That’s something to celebrate!
The front exteriors of railcars will have a lighted “smile” in either red, gold, blue, or green that denotes the color of each approaching rail line, per MARTA. Courtesy of MARTA
But a new fleet alone won’t make MARTA the agency it needs to be, nor will it necessarily make ridership recover and grow. For generations to come, MARTA will be the only transit agency we have. Let’s support change and make it happen. There’s a desire on the inside at MARTA—as I’ve personally seen—to become one of the nation’s leading transit agencies, as measured by ridership and rider satisfaction. But they haven’t gotten there yet.Other cities are recovering and exceeding their pre-pandemic levels of ridership. So what’ll bring transit-optional riders like me back onboard with MARTA, riding more often? It’s a long list. But MARTA can do some things this year, right now: 1. Clean it up. It saddens me to imagine the incredible new Swiss-made railcars maintained like the ones we have now. I ride transit all over the world, and there are cities that do and cities that don’t when it comes to cleanliness and states of good repair. That goes for the trains and the stations. Have the beautiful stainless steel HVAC ducts at Peachtree Center station been cleaned since the Olympics? 2. Increase frequency, especially at night and on weekends. We shouldn’t ever wait more than 10 minutes for a train. Often on the Red and Gold lines during weekdays, I don’t. But when you wait too long, the transit-optional rider considers ride-share. We aren’t just commuters anymore, and we need an urban rail system to work for our lives. That’s a 24-7 life—not a 9-to-6 life. 3. Make MARTA feel safer.
Shutterstock
I don’t know what the stats are, but we have to accept the reality that many Atlantans won’t ride MARTA because they don’t feel safe, especially at night. Make sure everyone riding has a valid ticket and that MARTA police patrol trains and stations. Don’t allow bad behavior and enforce the rules we already have. That makes us all feel better about being encapsulated in a train for 15, 20, or 40 minutes. 4. Move forward as fast as possible with the $12-billion More MARTA expansion. Show progress. Stop the endless study and reevaluation of the projects defined in 2019 and get on with it. These bus-rapid transit and light-rail projects coupled with station improvements do another thing that we need: connect the many nodes of density to each other and to the rest of the city. That means a one-connection ride from whenever you are to more places that we all want to reach. It’s clear the suburban counties are not ready to join MARTA, and when given the opportunity to expand their own systems this past November, they rejected that soundly. They don’t want transit. Not yet. More MARTA is for the City of Atlanta. Only. Let’s worry about that as far as expansion goes. 5. Stop the truncation of the Red and Green lines after 9 p.m. and run them all the way, end to end, at all times. The forced transfer to the Gold and Blue lines means more hassle, more time spent waiting for a train, and a loss of riders. And for those on the Gold line between the Airport and Lindbergh, a longer wait for a more crowded train. Cities don’t do this when they want to attract more riders and keep cars off the road. Extend the Green line to Avondale and use the third platform there for riders to transfer from a Blue train to a Green train.6. Use the Breeze system we already have to change the fare system and graduate the fare. I often don’t take MARTA one or two stops because the fare is high for that. And visitors to the city going from Airport to North Springs stations pay the same as I do to go one stop. Decreasing the fare for short trips and increasing it for longer ones is what those systems like BART and Metrorail did from day one. This stimulates rides for short trips and increases revenue from longer ones. Those with monthly passes and students would not experience a fee hike. Only the single-use, transit-optional rider like me. It costs $30 to $35 for a one-way ride to the airport (without surge pricing). Would I pay $5 or even $7 for that on the train? Absolutely.
A juxtaposition of MARTA’s first CQ400 train to be operational on tracks (left) and a current railcar. Courtesy of MARTA
How the new MARTA railcars’ open gangway designs allow for passenger travel throughout the train. Courtesy of MARTA
Big picture, creating more density near and at the MARTA stations we have and modifying land use policies is another realm of possibility for growing ridership. The lesson of the early 21st century is that unless we expand the American Dream in a way that makes a family consider other options than a single-family house with a yard in a far-flung suburb that was once a forest or farm, we won’t ever be able to build enough MARTA. Chasing the suburbs with MARTA rail is exactly what we don’t need to do. — Matthew Rao …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Recent MARTA news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
MARTA
Midtown Atlanta
Atlanta Transit
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
Alternative Transportation
Alternate Transportation
MARTA Stations
Atlanta MARTA stations
MARTA trains
New MARTA trains
Matthew Rao
BeltLine Rail Now!
Atlanta Bus Transportation
Atlanta Transit Link Authority
MARTA Schedules
Letter to the Editor
Letters to Editor
Letters to the Editor
Subtitle
In Letter to Editor, BRN chair, designer Matthew Rao waxes on transit upgrades, big and small
Neighborhood
Citywide
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off Read More
Transit advocate: How MARTA can quickly, noticeably improve
Josh Green
Tue, 02/11/2025 – 08:43
Most people who follow Atlanta urban planning would associate Matthew Rao with his passion project—chairing the transit advocacy group Beltline Rail Now, which he’s done since 2021. But as an Atlantan of 50 years and Georgia Tech-educated industrial designer by day, Rao has followed MARTA literally since its beginnings. His father took him, as a kid, to watch the first test-runs for MARTA’s east-west trains in the late 1970s. A spectacle, indeed. Inspired by a recent, witty reader comment on these pages—as spotlighted Saturday on our social media feeds—Rao got to thinking not about the long-term prospects of light-rail cars zipping along the Beltline, but about how MARTA could quickly take steps to improve public perception, in his estimation. The following Letter to the Editor is “written from my perspective as a citizen, resident, and business owner in Midtown,” he notes. It’s been lightly edited for clarity and length. …Dear Editor, I live three blocks from the Midtown MARTA station and chose to live where I do, within walking distance to a station, as a requirement. I later moved my business to a storefront here to further reduce my carbon footprint, create access for all of my employees present and future, and to make riding MARTA as easy as possible. I ride MARTA rail about once per week, on average. I nearly always take it to the airport, and I will take it to Buckhead, downtown, or various other points. I walk to work, so no transit is needed for a commute. In other words: I’m the “transit-optional” rider MARTA needs to court. Our MARTA rail system is one of only three like it, the others being Washington D.C.’s Metrorail and San Francisco’s BART. There are other fine American metro systems built since those three, but Atlanta, D.C., and the Bay Area are special in a variety of ways. Having lived here since middle school, I was around for MARTA’s opening day. There was a giddiness in the air that I still remember. Atlanta, whose metro population was less than 1.5 million in the late 1970s—yes, that’s right—was joining the league of big cities. The tallest buildings in all of Midtown were the “towers” of Colony Square. City leaders knew then that building the subway with three stations, serving the then low-density Midtown, would create the conditions for its morphing from a residential neighborhood into a city. It has. And it’s getting denser all the time.During the mid-1990s Olympics era, there was such pride in our system. The trains ran often and late into the night—and they were packed. The venues were clustered to take advantage of station locations. No one drove a car to attend the Games. I felt that same sense of pride and excitement as MARTA recently unveiled its new railcars. The excitement, in fact, was palpable and intense for the new Swiss-made trainsets. They are beautiful, with interiors designed for today’s lifestyles, including spaces for bikes and wheelchairs and luggage. A four-car train holds more passengers than the current six-car model, and two of these can be coupled together. We’ll soon have the best metro railcars in America. That’s something to celebrate!
The front exteriors of railcars will have a lighted “smile” in either red, gold, blue, or green that denotes the color of each approaching rail line, per MARTA. Courtesy of MARTA
But a new fleet alone won’t make MARTA the agency it needs to be, nor will it necessarily make ridership recover and grow. For generations to come, MARTA will be the only transit agency we have. Let’s support change and make it happen. There’s a desire on the inside at MARTA—as I’ve personally seen—to become one of the nation’s leading transit agencies, as measured by ridership and rider satisfaction. But they haven’t gotten there yet.Other cities are recovering and exceeding their pre-pandemic levels of ridership. So what’ll bring transit-optional riders like me back onboard with MARTA, riding more often? It’s a long list. But MARTA can do some things this year, right now: 1. Clean it up. It saddens me to imagine the incredible new Swiss-made railcars maintained like the ones we have now. I ride transit all over the world, and there are cities that do and cities that don’t when it comes to cleanliness and states of good repair. That goes for the trains and the stations. Have the beautiful stainless steel HVAC ducts at Peachtree Center station been cleaned since the Olympics? 2. Increase frequency, especially at night and on weekends. We shouldn’t ever wait more than 10 minutes for a train. Often on the Red and Gold lines during weekdays, I don’t. But when you wait too long, the transit-optional rider considers ride-share. We aren’t just commuters anymore, and we need an urban rail system to work for our lives. That’s a 24-7 life—not a 9-to-6 life. 3. Make MARTA feel safer.
Shutterstock
I don’t know what the stats are, but we have to accept the reality that many Atlantans won’t ride MARTA because they don’t feel safe, especially at night. Make sure everyone riding has a valid ticket and that MARTA police patrol trains and stations. Don’t allow bad behavior and enforce the rules we already have. That makes us all feel better about being encapsulated in a train for 15, 20, or 40 minutes. 4. Move forward as fast as possible with the $12-billion More MARTA expansion. Show progress. Stop the endless study and reevaluation of the projects defined in 2019 and get on with it. These bus-rapid transit and light-rail projects coupled with station improvements do another thing that we need: connect the many nodes of density to each other and to the rest of the city. That means a one-connection ride from whenever you are to more places that we all want to reach. It’s clear the suburban counties are not ready to join MARTA, and when given the opportunity to expand their own systems this past November, they rejected that soundly. They don’t want transit. Not yet. More MARTA is for the City of Atlanta. Only. Let’s worry about that as far as expansion goes. 5. Stop the truncation of the Red and Green lines after 9 p.m. and run them all the way, end to end, at all times. The forced transfer to the Gold and Blue lines means more hassle, more time spent waiting for a train, and a loss of riders. And for those on the Gold line between the Airport and Lindbergh, a longer wait for a more crowded train. Cities don’t do this when they want to attract more riders and keep cars off the road. Extend the Green line to Avondale and use the third platform there for riders to transfer from a Blue train to a Green train.6. Use the Breeze system we already have to change the fare system and graduate the fare. I often don’t take MARTA one or two stops because the fare is high for that. And visitors to the city going from Airport to North Springs stations pay the same as I do to go one stop. Decreasing the fare for short trips and increasing it for longer ones is what those systems like BART and Metrorail did from day one. This stimulates rides for short trips and increases revenue from longer ones. Those with monthly passes and students would not experience a fee hike. Only the single-use, transit-optional rider like me. It costs $30 to $35 for a one-way ride to the airport (without surge pricing). Would I pay $5 or even $7 for that on the train? Absolutely.
A juxtaposition of MARTA’s first CQ400 train to be operational on tracks (left) and a current railcar. Courtesy of MARTA
How the new MARTA railcars’ open gangway designs allow for passenger travel throughout the train. Courtesy of MARTA
Big picture, creating more density near and at the MARTA stations we have and modifying land use policies is another realm of possibility for growing ridership. The lesson of the early 21st century is that unless we expand the American Dream in a way that makes a family consider other options than a single-family house with a yard in a far-flung suburb that was once a forest or farm, we won’t ever be able to build enough MARTA. Chasing the suburbs with MARTA rail is exactly what we don’t need to do. — Matthew Rao …Follow us on social media: Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram • Recent MARTA news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
MARTA
Midtown Atlanta
Atlanta Transit
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
Alternative Transportation
Alternate Transportation
MARTA Stations
Atlanta MARTA stations
MARTA trains
New MARTA trains
Matthew Rao
BeltLine Rail Now!
Atlanta Bus Transportation
Atlanta Transit Link Authority
MARTA Schedules
Letter to the Editor
Letters to Editor
Letters to the Editor
Subtitle
In Letter to Editor, BRN chair, designer Matthew Rao waxes on transit upgrades, big and small
Neighborhood
Citywide
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post
Off
502-Unit Nashville Rental Community Nearing Completion
502-Unit Nashville Rental Community Nearing Completion
Property Markets Group, New Valley and RMWC announcing the topping off of Society Nashville, a 16-story, 502-unit mixed-use project located at 915 Division St. and set to enhance the growing neighborhood. The Gulch project, which is expected to welcome residents by the end of this year, is part of the PMG’s Society Living multifamily platform. In 2022, it received a $162 million construction loan from Square Mile Capital, as well as $35 million in equity through CrowdStreet.
Designed by Baker Barrios Architects, Society Nashville will include 502 residential units, approximately 8,400 square feet of retail space, and 485 parking spaces. The residential units will offer studio to three-bedroom units.
Amenities include a pool deck, a fitness center, co-working spaces, music room, a rooftop sky deck, and more.
With over 8,500 units planned, the firm is currently developing Society Living properties in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Atlanta, Denver, and Brooklyn, with more projects in the pipeline.
The post 502-Unit Nashville Rental Community Nearing Completion appeared first on Connect CRE.
Property Markets Group, New Valley and RMWC announcing the topping off of Society Nashville, a 16-story, 502-unit mixed-use project located at 915 Division St. and set to enhance the growing neighborhood. The Gulch project, which is expected to welcome residents by the end of this year, is part of the PMG’s Society Living multifamily platform. In 2022, it received …
The post 502-Unit Nashville Rental Community Nearing Completion appeared first on Connect CRE. Read MoreAtlanta & Southeast Commercial Real Estate News
Property Markets Group, New Valley and RMWC announcing the topping off of Society Nashville, a 16-story, 502-unit mixed-use project located at 915 Division St. and set to enhance the growing neighborhood. The Gulch project, which is expected to welcome residents by the end of this year, is part of the PMG’s Society Living multifamily platform. In 2022, it received …
The post 502-Unit Nashville Rental Community Nearing Completion appeared first on Connect CRE.