Buckhead: Rebuilding The Village

If you have childhood memories of Buckhead shops your mother dragged you into – clothing, hardware, books – or more recent memories of nights spent in local bars and clubs, hold those photos in your mind. Demolition of many of the former bars and buildings along Peachtree Road in Buckhead Village will begin in July to make way for an $800 million development of posh shops, boutique hotels and loft/condo residences.

Developer Ben Carter, best known for his development of the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County, has quietly bought up property in the heart of the village to create Buckhead Avenues. Carter said eight city blocks will be razed – from the corner of Pharr Road to Boling Way, up to North Fulton Way and back down Pharr to Peachtree – to make room for the development.

"The only thing that will be left is the City Grille building – we’re building around it," Carter said. "We plan to begin construction in October and have it finished by November 2009."

Carter, who worked with 22 property owners, including George Rohrig and Robin Loudermilk, said all the parcels are under contract. He said he has already closed on $85 million of it and expects to close on the remaining $150 million this spring and early summer.

His Ben Carter Properties has also been courting high-end retailers to fill the 500,00 square feet of retail space, but Carter would not comment on specific companies. Prospective tenants are rumored to be on the scale of Prada and Barney’s. Carter said five or six restaurants of national and international distinction will also be in the project.

Parking for the development will be in decks, which will have retail below and residences on top to make them more esthetically pleasing, Carter said. He expects 300 residences and another 300 hotel rooms will be included in Buckhead Avenues.

While village stalwart Fado Irish Pub will be included in the new development, several other businesses will be leaving or finding temporary locations. The Great Frame-Up, which has been in the village for nearly 30 years, will depart for another location in Buckhead in early summer, according to owner Kara Klimshuk.

"I’m conflicted about the project," Klimshuk said. "I know it will be good for the area and the economy, but it won’t quite be the same."

At press time, Cousins Properties Inc., developer of four venues called The Avenue, had filed suit against Ben Carter Properties for trademark infringement. (Atlanta INtown is owned by Nonami Enterprises, a Cousins family interest unrelated to Cousins Properties.)

Carter said the 14 months of planning and intense negotiations were the biggest challenge of his career so far. However, as a Buckhead native, he said the work was worth it.

"I used to hang out and shop in the village with my friends and family," Carter said. "It was sad to see what it had evolved into. Driving through there every day, I started to notice more and more vacancies, and that encouraged me to put this deal together."

While Carter begins the radical transformation of Buckhead Village, the Buckhead Community Improvement District will be keeping an eye on the streetscaping aspect of the redevelopment. Executive Director Scotty Green said an arrangement was made with Carter and the contractors who will be building in the village to incorporate consistent streetscaping into the projects.

The BCID is behind the "Peachtree Boulevard," a $14 million project that is transforming 1.5 miles through the heart of Buckhead with wider sidewalks, tree-lined medians, bike lanes and improved crossings to create a "pedestrian promenade" through the village. Initial work is expected to be complete this summer.

"Peachtree Street is our Broadway," Green said. "This is our signature street."

Also in the mix is the proposal to run a 14-mile streetcar line all the way down Peachtree from Club Drive in Brookhaven past Downtown to Whitehall Street. Mayor Shirley Franklin announced the $1 billion streetcar plan in February to mixed reactions from businesses and homeowners along the corridor, who would shoulder the burden with increased property taxes.

Another project Green will be actively involved in, and sure to cause controversy, is the Piedmont Corridor Study that began last month. Part of the study is to explore the feasibility of an access road that would run behind businesses on both sides of Piedmont Road. Green said businesses and homeowners would be involved in this, since it would mean donating property. The study, at a cost of $200,000, is expected to last a year and will be headed by Denise Starling, executive director of the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association (BATMA).

"This study will shine a bright light on where all the traffic snarls are and what we can do about them," Green said. "The goal is simply how we can make Piedmont work better."