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| Zoning signage for the Briarcliff project with the exising single unit in the background |
Four separate, yet nearby, townhome communities have been proposed in the North Druid Hills / Briarcliff neighborhoods near Emory University.
One community is being proposed on Briarcliff Road, between Fisher Trail and Clairmont Road. Westlake Village, California-based Ryland Homes is proposing to build a 47 unit community on 6.69 acres, which amounts to about seven units per acre. One two-story townhome was built years ago and would not be involved in the new development, nor is there any reason to believe the new units would be intended to blend it with it. The new townhome community would be built on previously undeveloped land.
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| Zoning signage on North Druid Hills with the 65-unit development in the background |
A second project is being proposed at the northwest corner of North Druid Hills Road and High Haven Court, adjacent to Still Water United Methodist Church. Unlike the Briarcliff project, this project would be a redevelopment where four existing ranch-style homes would be replaced with 20 townhomes. The overall property size is a little less than 2.5 acres which essentially means the density would be 8 units per acre versus the current 1.63 per acre. The project is being proposed by Duluth-based "Edge City Properties."
This proposed 20 unit community sits across the street from another new townhome community currently under construction. A total of 65 townhomes will be built on North Druid Hills Road between the Fountainview Alzheimers Center and Merry Lane. Ryland Homes will turn what used to be 16 homes on roughly 8 acres into the 65-unit "Towns at Druid Hills."
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| Zoning signage at the proposed redevelopment on Clairmont Road |
John Weiland Homes is proposing a third project, a redevelopment on Clairmont Road near Emory's Clairmont campus. Wieland plans to demolish 15 existing homes on roughly seven acres, with plans to build 81 townhomes. The site begins essentially across the street from the Somerset Heights condo building at Desmond Drive and continues done Clairmont, towards North Decatur Road. This conversion represents a change in density from 2.27 units per acre to 12.25 units per acre.
The fourth, and most recently revealed project, is a PulteGroup redevelopment on LaVista Road. Atlanta-based PulteGroup reportedly has under contract four single family homes in the 2600 block of LaVista Road near Oak Grove Road. Pulte intends to apply to have the property rezoned to allow for a 21-unit townhome community to be built. The project will reportedly be "similar in style, scale and quality" to Pulte's recently completed project, Overlook at North Druid. Overlook is also a 21-unit community and is located on North Druid Hills Road not far from Target.
These four developments bring to mind two other nearby projects.
Davis Oaks is a 21-unit townhome community at the corner of Alderbrook Road and LaVista Road. The complex was built in 2008 and replaced a single older home on a large lot. The project was developed by Richport Properties and has easily gone through a half dozen, if not more, listing agents as they struggled to sell the units in the wake of the housing crash. Reportedly, few remain on the market today.
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| Above Vizcaya's one completed unit, below, plenty of undeveloped land. |
VIZCAYA, located not far from Post Briarcliff, is a similar situation to the single developed unit on Briarcliff. The parcel is large enough for dozens of additional units but has mysteriously sat unfinished for over a decade. The single completed unit features a classy terracotta roof, but I doubt if and when future units are built that they would replicate it.
8 comments:
I remember when they clear-cut the lot on Briarcliff near Fisher Trail. It was around 1981, give or take a year. Was empty and ugly for a while, until the pine trees grew back.
That is interesting about that Vizcaya. I've driven by it and didn't understand why there was that sign, but (what looked like) only one house, because I'd never actually driven down that street (Mesa Cliff). That should be some hot property, quite baffling that it has stayed empty for so long.
Because what we need is more traffic on Clairmont and Desmond AND North Decatur Road.
You didn't mention Briarcliff Estates, the new single-family development in the 2800 block of Briarcliff Road (between North Druid Hills and Clairmont). Peachtree Residential paid $640,000 for 1.8 acres across from Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and is replacing the 1930s house that was behind the trees with "three luxury homes from the $900s."
I do hope all this activity in the area will lead to someone buying and redeveloping the eyesore body shops and car wash in a trailer along the western side of Clairmont at Briarcliff.
As is customary with real estate development there is little conversation given to the impact on traffic. Lavista, Houston Mill, N. Druid and Clairmont are pretty much impassable during rush hour as it is. Increasing unit density will not help although the developers don't care one bit - after all they don't have to live in the neighborhoods in which they build.
Does anyone know what's going on at Pangborn by the railroad tracks? There's active development on one side and a zoning placard on the other side.
The existing townhomes will be part of Ryland's project on Briarcliff. They will remain as-is, with 47 new units built adjacent. But the total development is 51 units. Traffic nightmare ahead.
Re: comment 6 about Pangborn, I figured it out myself. There's a 14-home subdivision being carved into the space between Kahanna Dr and Pangborn Rd along the tracks. More details: http://planningdekalb.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Jan8-2014-Sketch-Plat-Agenda.pdf
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