Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Starbucks Succumbs to Selig's Development

Coffee shop to close Sunday

The Starbucks Coffee location that opened early last year at Spring & 4th Streets in Midtown, is slated to close this coming Sunday, October 9th.  After extensive renovations, the coffee shop opened in place of what had been an abandoned Arby's restaurant and drive-thru.

Selig Properties, which owns not only the Starbucks property, but all of the properties between 3rd and 4th Streets, plans to demolish everything to make way for new student housing. The re-development represents 708-738 Spring Street, about 1.75 acres in total.

The Standard, as the re-development is known, is a mixed-use student housing project that will include 280 furnished residential units for students and 11,200 square feet of commercial space at street-level.  Selig Enterprises, in partnership with Landmark Properties, will complete the 19-story project on the southwest corner of Spring Street and 4th Street.  Parking will be provided in a 10-story parking deck that is enclosed by residential units on the street-fronting façades.
Plans for The Standard were first revealed this past April, at which time the Starbucks was expected to close, but "no time soon."  Starbucks representatives reportedly attempted to secure space nearby for a temporary "pop-up" cafe, but were unsuccessful.  (A mini Starbucks within the Barnes & Noble at Tech Square remains open.)

Not far away, at Peachtree & 8th Streets, a freestanding Starbucks relocated to a temporary space in the Viewpoint condo building in 2014.  The old Starbucks property was then razed and rebuilt as Seventh Midtown, a new luxury condo building with a lobby level Starbucks that reopened earlier this year.

As shown in the rendering, Starbucks Coffee is expected to occupy a prominent space in the lobby level of The Standard, but likely not until sometime in 2018.  A Starbucks employee with whom I spoke this week indicated that plans call for the coffee shop to be demolished as soon as mid month.

In other Starbucks news, the company is making progress with two upcoming locations in Atlanta, and another near Tucker  As in midtown, both will make use of existing freestanding buildings and their respective drive-thrus. Starbucks will renovate and open in the former Wendy's on Peachtree Road in Brookwood Hills and will also open in place of Saigon basil on Piedmont Avenue.  Near Tucker, Starbucks will relocate from Northlake Festival to a newly constructed cafe with drive-thru on LaVista Road, next to Northlake Mall.

Are you sad to be losing midtown's only drive-thru Starbucks?  Do you think midtown needs more student housing?  What else would you like to see open in the ground level retail space of The Standard?

Please share your thoughts below.

8 comments:

AJ said...

Could you help me understand how leases like this work? Seems odd that Starbucks would spend the money they spent (regardless of how much money the company already has!) to redo the space for such a short period of time. Do you think they are getting a big payout from Selig? Or rent concessions in the new building?

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Starbucks - in the small strip center right at the corner of I-285 and Chamblee Dunwoody, Great Clips switched end caps to make room for a new Starbucks (presumably so that Starbucks can have a drive thru). There is a long standing and very popular Starbucks next door and about 50 yards from this location in the Kroger center near Goldbergs. But that location has no drive-thru.

It will be interesting to see how the new locations plays out - the center is tiny and has very little parking although none of the other tenants (Grecian Gyro, Great Clips, eyebrow waxing, etc.) require use of a.m. parking. I can see the cars stacking up onto Chamblee Dunwoody in the morning where the ramp onto I-285 is already a mess (thanks in large part to those ridiculous one-at-a-time entrance ramp traffic lights).

Anonymous said...

Re: the Starbucks at Georgetown, your comments are spot on, i don't see how its going to work with the proximity to the Kroger parking lot traffic AND the very narrow cut-in space to Chamblee Dunwoody and the 285 Entrance ramp.
The current location is bad but this may be much worse. Just my 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

Thats interesting about the chamblee Dunwoody starbucks, it can be an adventure getting in and out of the kroger center in the morning since the Starbucks and Goldbergs are in the very front at the light and the only businesses that attract morning traffic, especially since the new development just north of the center has eliminated the back way out to another traffic light. I agree though a Starbucks in the Great Clips center will be even worse. I get on 285 there a few mornings a week and the death stares random people get trying to get out of that center into traffic during rush hour are epic, I can only imagine what it would be like for a row of Starbucks customers.

Anonymous said...

@AJ-

It's hard to say what the arrangement was because there are so many ways to handle it. It is certainly possible that Selig offered Starbucks rental discounts, concessions, etc. It is also possible that Selig paid for the recent improvements through a tenant allowance under their current lease.

They might have even involved other locations where Selig leases to Starbucks to make up for it. Whatever the arrangement, you can safely bet that Starbucks didn't simply take a bath on the investment they recently made in renovations!

Anonymous said...

pity the fool that goes to the new Chamblee Dunwoody sbux in morning rush hour. We need to get to work and get the kids to school. We're glad you got your latte or frappacino, but we won't be letting you out of the lot, as our urgency and mission is more important than yours.

Anonymous said...

The good news is that the Dunwoody police will be manning their regular (almost) daily post along the on ramp to 285, pulling over people who go straight onto the highway from the turn only lane from Cotillion, further grid locking that area.

Imandy said...

What can Selig do with the sex club right behind their new development they are building completely around it. I cannot believe they couldn't agree to buy it or decided to move forward with it there. Nothing sells luxury like a gay bath house outside your window.

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