Thursday, July 10, 2014

Simon Says It Has Room for 319 Luxury Residences at Phipps Plaza

This image is reportedly of Peachtree Road at Wieuca Road, looking south
A 319 unit  "Dynamic Luxury Residential Component" is coming to Phipps Plaza.

Indianapolis, Indiana-based Simon Property Group announced earlier today that it plans to add 319 "luxury" residential units to its popular Phipps Plaza property in Buckhead.  The project, Domain at Phipps Plaza, is slated to begin construction this coming September with a planned completion next fall.  (Simon-owned The Domain is a lifestyle center with hotel and residences that may be serving as the template for the Buckhead project.)

The Domain will be built at the corner of Peachtree and Wieuca Roads in a space seemingly too small for what is displayed in the conceptual sketch. The image, while majestic and modern, shows a large, four level complex with flat roofs, flanked by additional  buildings to the left and right.  

The Domain development is in addition to the planned AC Hotel by Marriott being developed by Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group, also in the same area on Simon-owned property.

Simon is also planning to develop another residential complex at neighboring Lenox Square.  The reported 35-story, 400 unit building would be built near the old SunTrust branch, behind Bloomingdales, overlooking GA-400.  

Maybe it's just me, but as a Buckhead area resident and employee of a Buckhead area business, this kind of development would seem likely to make existing traffic even worse.  

What are your thoughts on this project?  Please share your thoughts below. 

13 comments:

Theron Sapp said...

I trust none of the residents will ever want in or out of their homes at rush hour. It can already take 20 minutes to get through that intersection on a bad night.

And I too can't figure out how the lovely development in that photo is supposed to fit at Wieuca & Peachtree. Where's the mall?

Unknown said...

I love how the placed the bicyclists and pedestrians meandering about their day and not running for their lives across traffic. That whole rendering is all wrong and not based in reality

Anonymous said...

Ridiculous....They must be building it where some of the parking decks are now.

TheJohnP said...

Good thing the residents will have such a wide range of food options at Phipps to enjoy, or not.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

People take up space and generate waste. The successful people at Simon and other developers are undeniably smart, accomplished individuals. Do the words 'sustainable' and 'scale' have any meaning to them?

Anonymous said...

All part of the *Kasim snatchin' the scrilla'* plan. Mo' people, mo taxes.

Atlanta continues to be the poster child for awful planning and development.

Say what you want about California (over-regulated, high taxes, etc, etc) but many communities and counties out there know how to handle development. That includes developers offsetting costs for infrastructure upfront and not just with the promise of future taxes. Maryland makes developers purchase green space offsets before they approve high impact developments.

Anonymous said...

What's with all the vitriol?? This is a dense development that is replacing a parking lot. Is that not what we want in an area of the city that continues to urbanize?

Our analysis of every development should not and CANNOT start with its impact on traffic. Traffic will be there regardless - and will be bad regardless until we have more infill development within walking distance to a well-executed mass transit system.

Much more important to the development analysis are how the development interacts with the street, its surroundings of scale, and its treatment of the pedestrian and bike environments next to it. This development does those things well from what I can see. What's the problem?

The Anti-Gnostic said...

This is a dense development that is replacing a parking lot. Is that not what we want in an area of the city that continues to urbanize?

How much density? All those people packed in ant colonies still need groceries and manufactured goods that have to be trucked in. What sort of magic does increased density and urbanization do for Shanghai, Mumbai, Mexico City?

You may safely assume that we will never have a well-executed mass transit system, for a variety of reasons.

Anonymous said...

It's not the *development* that's the problem, its the planning. Developers know they can basically ram through a project with the City of Atlanta because it is "increasing the tax base". Infrastructure and traffic... Meh, worry about that crap later.

I would also hesitate to call what's going on "urbanization". Urbanization is really only in 5 cities in the US... NYC, DC., San Fran, Chicago and Boston. What do all of those have in common... A large, useful public transit system. Marta is not awful but its also about 10-15 years behind where it needs to be. And don't even get me started on spending $100 million on the streetcar program... What a cluster F that will turn out to be.

Biking is a big solution that should be getting more attention and funds for infrastructure. Atlanta could be an excellent bike city if it was safer to ride streets.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: development / MARTA / Streetcar,

I agree with you on call. Having been to cities like New York, Boston, San Fran and Chicago in recent months, it's clear as day how far back Atlanta is when it comes to transit. It's sad that with the groundwork laid by Sam Massell for MARTA in the 70's that more could not be done in the years that followed.

I drove by the streetcar last week and it kinda sorta reminded me of the similar transit options in Portland and Phoenix but just not as good. It will be a ride and drive type of scenario. People will ride once, say they've done it and continue to drive. It just fails to do or connect enough to make it useful.

I love the bikes and pedestrians in the sketch but so unrealistic.

Thanks for your comments and readership.

Anonymous said...

I dont think this is replacing a parking deck because there is a decent sized land parcel before that condo tower.

As a Buckhead resident I am very concerned about all of this multifamily development given the existing infrastructure and street "grid". I love infill and density but this is just ridiculous, especially the potential tower behind Lenox (seriously, wtf is up with that? Simon is the largest public REIT and has smart people but has anyone thought about access for this location? Its a nightmare)

The AMLI development at Roxboro and E paces Ferry road is by far the smartest multifamily development we'll see in this cycle given direct access to MARTA and proximity to 85 and 400, as well as how it fits within the community and existing infrastructure. The Simon play is pure greed. Just because you can build it doesnt mean you should or that it should be built.

Anonymous said...

Some posters here haven't a alue about the area. This building is directly across the street from a Publix and in walking distance of Marta and hundreds of stores and resturants. In fact this area is one of the most walkable in Atlanta already. Path 400 is also being built right now. Only thing Phipps and Lenox need is safer crosswalks and wider pavement.

Anonymous said...

I think there may be some confusion about the location of this development; The rendering at the top of the post isn't of Peachtree and Wieuca, but the corner of Wieuca and Park Ave. It will occupy the long tract of land between Park Ave and Longleaf Drive.

The AC Marriott hotel is going to be at the corner of Peachtree and Wieuca.

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