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SRES Featured in Atlanta Business Chronicle
The city of Atlanta's development arm is working to bring a $40 million-plus mixed-use project to the Lakewood area, hoping to kick-start revitalization efforts in one of the poorer sections of the city.
The Atlanta Development Authority is negotiating with MARTA to develop office, residential and retail space on a 13.6-acre parking lot connected to MARTA's Lakewood/Fort McPherson station in South Atlanta. The project -- expected to include 200,000 square feet of office and retail space and 180 units of affordable and market-rate housing -- would be developed by the team of Smith Real Estate Services Inc., Carter & Associates and Columbia Residential LLC.
The Lakewood project would be MARTA's first transit-oriented development on the south side of Atlanta. This year, the transit authority has made progress on plans for mixed-use projects at its Sandy Springs and Medical Center stations on the north side of the city and building has been under way for months at the controversial Lindbergh City Center project, next to the Lindbergh station in Buckhead.
Carter and Smith Real Estate are also working together on the Lindbergh project.
But MARTA shouldn't worry that a Lakewood project will bring the type of litigation that Lindbergh has, according to City Council member Derrick Boazman, whose district includes the project site.
"I said to MARTA, `At least you won't get litigation and you might get a parade down Metropolitan Parkway,'" Boazman said.
Financing options
Parade organizers shouldn't get to work just yet, though. The project still has a number of hurdles to cross, including how Mayor-elect Shirley Franklin will view the project and how to get it financed.
A spokesperson said Franklin was definitely committed to revitalization efforts in South Atlanta as long as affordable housing is part of the mix. But the spokesperson stopped short of endorsing the project until Franklin is fully briefed on it.
As for financing, Atlanta Development Authority President Kevin Hanna said there are a "couple of options on the table" to bankroll a Lakewood project, including bond financing similar to what the authority has done with other revitalization efforts downtown and along South Atlanta's Pryor Road corridor.
But Hanna is confident a deal can be struck that satisfies both MARTA and the Atlanta Development Authority.
"Our hope is to be able to announce something by the end of the year," he said.
A MARTA spokesperson confirmed that the agency is in negotiations with the Atlanta Development Authority regarding the Lakewood site but could not comment on the proposed development.
Any new development, especially new office space, would be a boon to an area that has seen little to no building for years, Hanna said.
New office buildings are crucial if the south side is going to draw the kinds of tenants that are now heading to North Fulton with large numbers of employees in tow, said Pam Smith, president and CEO of Smith Real Estate.
There are simply too few office space options for corporations that would consider locating on the south side, Smith added, and even fewer near the Lakewood site. Smith's research shows no class A office space in the immediate area around Lakewood and about 400,000 square feet of class B space, with almost no space available.
Plus, many times the people working in lower-paying jobs (call centers or processing operations) in North Atlanta are commuting from the south side, Smith said. Locating on the south side might help those companies retain employees, she said.
The project would start with a four-story, 100,000-square-foot office building (containing 10,000 square feet of retail) and all 180 apartments. A second office building would hinge on the success of the first. Smith said she hopes the project can be kicked off in the spring.
Ensuring affordable housing
Both Hanna and Boazman spoke strongly about ensuring that the residential portion of the project will be affordable to area residents.
"We have to preserve those who have historically been there," Boazman said. "When we create housing that is market-rate and above, we will create commensurate opportunities for affordable housing."
And by bringing more jobs and residents to the area, the project's backers hope to lure restaurants and shops to serve to serve them. Right now, the options are limited.
"We still have to go out of our neighborhood for shops, to be entertained, to find adequate and sufficient office space," Boazman said. "This [project] will be a shot in the arm for that particular end of the district."
Not only would it be a shot in the arm for the area, but hopefully a Lakewood project could nudge other developers southward, Hanna said.
"In the public sector, our responsibility is to be the pointer. Our hope is that this will be an indicator to the private sector [that southside development is viable]," he said.
