Revitalizing Buckhead Village

 If you haven’t driven down Peachtree Road through Buckhead Village lately, you might be surprised at how many bars are vacant and boarded up. The now seedy-looking buildings are plastered with “For Rent” and “Space Available” signs, a far cry from the days – and nights – as Atlanta’s foremost playground.

Now that the criminal element has been shown the door, the table must be set to invite new guests – restaurants and retailers who will restore Buckhead Village to its former luster.

The latest and maybe most powerful impetus for that transformation got a big boost last summer when the Buckhead Community Improvement District (CID) expanded to include the Buckhead Village.

The Buckhead CID, which was focused on the financial and shopping district north of the village – the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont and around Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza – expanded in July to include the Buckhead Village.

The Buckhead CID was a two-mile-square property tax assessment district formed in 1999 by Buckhead businesses hoping for government funds to improve and manage the area’s biggest problems: traffic and transportation.

The expansion also created a strong partnership between the CID and the Buckhead Alliance (BA) to develop projects and leverage funds for the greater good of Buckhead.

“We are now essentially working as one unit – and the Buckhead Coalition is also partner,” said Scotty Greene, executive director of the Buckhead CID. “The reason why the CID invested $30,000 for organizational seed money and my time was because they realized that unless this area [Buckhead Village] is improved and raised to standards, it would reflect on their commitment to development [in the area north of Shadowlawn – the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont – all the way to the malls].... What was at stake was the positive or negative impact on real estate investments in the entire CID.”

Greene, a Birmingham native, attorney and former city council member in Louisville, Ky., has headed up the CID since 2000. Among the half-dozen or so other organizations involved in the transformation is the Buckhead Alliance, which is most closely aligned with the CID.

With the expansion and unified focus, Kendall Craig, the hard-working executive director of the BA, will have an expanded role – responsibility for planning and coordinating meetings between village stakeholders, the City of Atlanta and state officials. She will also juggle marketing and public relations initiatives.

“We’re not just putting out fires and shutting down bars now,” Greene said. “We have a plan.... We basically have to set the table for investment. If the people who are assembling land deals see our civic leadership is supportive – and that the CID and BA are also working with the City of Atlanta – they know they have a cogent group of people to talk to.”

The first step in the transformation – taming the unruly nightlife by closing bars and addressing faulty liquor licenses – is complete.

Now, there are behind-the-scenes meetings going on about construction and development, retail and restaurants.

“Every time we meet, it changes,” said Craig. “We have different developers coming in every week, and there is more and more to get excited about.”

Some of the things on the near horizon include:

• $500,000 in CID funds is already designated for planning and designing the transformation of sidewalks and streetscaping in Buckhead Village (as part of the Peachtree Corridor).

• The CID and BA, with the City of Atlanta, are seeking $3 million from the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Department of Transportation for construction of streetscapes, Greene said, and will be looking for corporate and foundation support.

• The City of Atlanta is providing public, self-cleaning toilets.

• Buckhead Green, a 75-25 partnership between the CID and the Buckhead Alliance, for daily clean up of streets and sidewalks. The bright white and green truck is also a good branding opportunity. “These sidewalks and streets run through some of the most valuable real estate in the country,” Greene said.

• Starting this month, the CID and BA will be hosting charettes – a form of town meeting to gather input – to find out what the surrounding neighborhoods would like to see. “Anyone and everyone is invited to help define the future of the Buckhead Village,” Craig said.

• Greene said an important result of the planning and design process – starting this month through April – would be the design guidelines and standards that private developers will have to follow.

As Buckhead has begun to clean up its act, retailers have started buzzing again about moving into some of the vacant storefronts. One obstacle to overcome is the lack of parking in the village.

“We are hoping someone will come in and take the initiative to build parking decks, either hidden or underground,” Robin Loudermilk, president of the Buckhead Alliance, said, noting that he fully backed the proposed Peachtree Streetcar, which would link Downtown to Buckhead.

Speaking of links, Greene and Craig both acknowledge the value of the work Midtown Alliance has done and the model it has provided for Buckhead. “We do use them as a strong model,” Craig said. “It’s what we need to do but on a smaller scale.” She added, Midtown Alliance has followed Buckhead’s lead in setting up surveillance cameras.

Loudermilk said he believes Buckhead is 10 years behind Midtown, which has transformed itself in the last five years. But Craig thinks the timeline might be shorter. “Because we’re smaller, I think we could accomplish what they set out to accomplish in maybe half of that,” she said.

“We [Buckhead Alliance] were formed to accomplish cleaning up the village, and we did so. The redevelopment phase – everyone knew would be the second phase – would be led by the CID,” Craig said.

Said Greene, “I’ve heard people say the party in Buckhead is over, but, really, it’s just going to be a more balanced party.”

For even more indepth coverage on Buckhead Village, pick up a copy of the February edtion of Atlanta INtown which is out now.