Friday, July 10, 2015

Local Church Pursues Higher, Better Use for Land

Local church looking to have land redeveloped

Peachtree Baptist Church, located at the corner of Briarcliff and LaVista Roads, is looking to have about an acre of unused land developed into a 20-unit, "high rise" residential condominium building of up to five stories.  The land sits to the rear of the church, adjacent to a cemetery and neighboring Public Storage facility.  

The application filed by  "C12 Group of Atlanta" seeks to rezone about .8 acres of church property from R-75 (Single-Family Residential) to O-I (Office Institutional) to allow construction of the condo building. The subject property is located on the south side of LaVista Road, approximately 510 feet west of Briarcliff Road at 2108 Briarcliff Road. The property has approximately 20 feet of frontage along LaVista Road.  

The development would offer "1-3 bedroom floor plans typical of an upscale, in-town lifestyle,"  according to information supplied to the planning commission. "Office Suites" of between 500-1,500 square feet are also proposed for at least one of the buildings to allow for "neighborhood convenience and professional offices."  

"C12 Group" is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based organization whose mission is to use biblical principles to guide business owners through their hosting of round-table discussions. "The C12 Group is not about networking. It’s not another business-centric Bible study. It’s an objective advisory board for brainstorming and decision making, learning what you don’t know and focusing on areas you need to sharpen."  

In the case of this project, Beau Fields, C12 North Georgia Territory Chair, a 17-year veteran of the real estate industry, is assisting the church in the planning and execution of their development.   Fields has experience owning, building, and operating real estate developments, but says that the church plans to transfer ownership of the project to a development company once it is approved.


The group has also filed a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) to increase the building height from the approved two story level, to the desired five stories. 

The Planning Commission denied the proposal on Tuesday, but it will be heard before the Board of Commissioners on July 28th.   

If eventually approved, this new parcel would be joined with a previously approved 1.9 acre adjacent site.  The 1.9 acre site at 1587 LaVista Road was approved in 2007 for 50 units in two buildings, but stalled in 2008 amidst the economic crisis that limited the availability of capital.  

The project, originally called "Emory Pointe," has been renamed "LaVista Pointe"    

Emory Point (sans the "e") is a large mixed use project that Atlanta-based Cousins opened on nearby Clifton Road in 2012. A second phase of the project will be completed soon, highlighted by the recent opening of Earth Fare. 

The Cloverleaf School, a private, non-profit elementary school, currently operates from Church-owned property and will relocate ahead of the planned development.  The school, which will offer kindergarten through 6th grade for the 2015-16 school year, plans to move next month to a nearly 10,000 square foot facility at 1894 Ludovie Lane, not far from the Northlake Library. The school specializes in educating children with ADHD, high functioning autism, Asperger’s, anxiety, and other learning differences.  

While the intersection of Briarcliff and LaVista Roads is no doubt a great location for those wishing to be close to both Emory and Buckhead, the area is already quite congested. A big plus to potentially living at the development: the cemetery and storage facility should make for exceptionally quiet neighbors.

What are your thoughts on the proposed development? Would you want to live in one of the planned condos?  Do you think the additional 20 units should be approved or is 50 units already too many for the area?   

Please share your thoughts below.  

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4 comments:

Ham said...

In my opinion it seems like the height of the proposed development is not appropriate for that location. I wonder if the church might be better served to sell the entire property and relocate.

Anonymous said...

Saw that Revelator Coffee is opening next to Cook & Soldiers in West Midtown.

I had it recently in another city and didn't care of it. Neat looking place but it's slow because of how they brew it and the sweetener options were really lacking.

Anonymous said...

the Church should probably just sell the hole place, and make the buyer maintain the cemetery.

I used to live at Sloan Square and liked the area. Big shame that the storage place was able to acquire so much land.

It does get congested a bit, although it was generally at quite predictable times of day. Heading east on Lavista, there's a dedicated right turn lane to get into Sloan. If that lane reaches this new development, that will be good for the residents. There's quite a bit of eastbound traffic at that light during afternoon rush hours.

~mindspringyahoo

Anonymous said...

Five stories is way too tall for the area.

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